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June 1

Abuse of good cars

"And by the way, there's a ding in my driver's side door because you told me not to part it at an angle."

This is a quote from TV show Bones; the character has got a nice car and her publisher (who gave it to her) told her to park it at an angle. Her friend told her it looks silly. Towards the end of the show we find she's taken her friend's advice and parked it straight, resulting in this damage. Why would a car get damaged just for being parked straight? Would someone damage it deliberately just because it's a nice car? I don't live in America and don't drive, and I know nothing about cars...I get the feeling this is something most people would understand, but I don't get it. 90.193.232.165 (talk) 09:59, 1 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

People with brand new cars will sometimes park at an angle, taking up two spaces, to put some distance between their car and those who park within the lines, thus lessening the likelihood that someone would accidentally ding their car when opening a door of their own car. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 10:03, 1 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Not sure whether this is related, but people will also "key" a nice car by running the end of a key or similar object such as a coin down the side of the car. Chevy monte carlo 10:06, 1 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

(edit conflict)Sometimes when people get a new and/or expensive car, they go to great lengths to make sure that no other car is parked within striking distance. Basically far enough so that the other person's car door couldn't swing out and hit their car. In parking lots that have perpendicular parking spaces (straight), they will park diagonally. This usually takes up three spaces and people are forced to park far enough away from the car that they can't accidentally hit the expensive car with their doors. Another tactic of these people is to park in the farthest corner of the parking lot and walk the extra distance to the building. Dismas|^(talk) 10:07, 1 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

"Keying" is deliberate vandalism, but dings from car doors being opening carelessly are far more common. Some new car owners will park at the far end of the lot AND park straddling a line in the hope that everyone else will park within the lines. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 10:20, 1 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

And by the way, parking lot owners putting the lines too close together, in order to maximize the income in a paid lot, is a major culprit in this problem. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 10:21, 1 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

If spaces are short in a car park, taking more than one space will increase the chances of being "keyed". -- Q Chris (talk) 11:44, 1 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Excellent point. The less vandalistic approach would be to do what someone I knew (not me certainly) used to do: Leave a note under the windshield wiper advising them that if they parked crossways instead of at a mere angle, they could take up 3 spaces instead of 2. Another approach is that if the guy has only partly straddled a line, and you have a small car, you could park next to him, legally within the lines, but so close he can't get in his door. That could be a hoot. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 11:52, 1 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Just as a note, a lot of people consider this practice to be very rude, at least in this part of North Carolina. I would not park a car like that; if I was that worried about getting dents in it, I wouldn't drive it to that place to begin with. So, yes, some people in America do park their cars like that, but as Agent Booth told Dr. Brennen (in the TV show that the OP mentioned), that's a jerky thing to do. Falconus^{p t c} 16:01, 1 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

In the UK, I would expect people to get a fine for parking across multiple spaces. Of course, the owners of such cars may consider those fines an acceptable cost. --Tango (talk) 21:33, 1 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Indeed I planned to suggest but then forgot that if you see this you could inform a parking warden or police officer or whatever if you see one. They might not bother to do anything, but perhaps they will issue an infringement notice. If it's a private carpark, like in a shopping complex or whatever then perhaps the information desk at the shop. I presume they could clamp the car or tow it if they wanted to. Nil Einne (talk) 20:45, 2 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

If I had a really expensive nice car, I'd pay for my own parking space, or get a bike :p Chevy monte carlo 16:50, 1 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I must confess that I have done exactly what Bugs describes. I parked my small, cheap, heavily dinged car next to a large expensive car straddling a line, in such a way that they could not open their driver door. It gave me such satisfaction. Marco polo (talk) 20:22, 1 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Cheers. I now have a valuable insight into the world of...cars. 90.193.232.165 (talk) 06:53, 2 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

No worries :) Chevy monte carlo 12:21, 2 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

XKCD explains the situation elegantly: [1]. SteveBaker (talk) 14:27, 2 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

looking for a good and reliable literary agent to help edit my manuscripts and get me publishing contracts. Can you help me in that direction?

looking for an efficient agent to asist me me in my book publication. Can you connect me with one? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lilyndi (talk • contribs) 11:29, 1 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Didn't someone ask this same question a week or two ago? Have you looked in the ref desks or its archives? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 11:42, 1 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

We're not going to recommend agents here. There are lists of agents available and we may be able to help you find them. You will need to tell us what country you are looking to publish to book in before we can find you an appropriate list, though. --Tango (talk) 21:31, 1 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

This question comes up every couple of months; this thread is the first thread that came up in my Reference Desk search for "literary agent". Don't work with an agent who charges you money. Comet Tuttle (talk) 23:18, 1 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Literary agents are not usually also editors, though some are. Agents help connect writers with opportunities, editors work with the author to help make the book the best it can be. Speaking of editors - and I would not say this if your question was not directly related to selling your writing - you need to work on your spelling - or at least your proofreading. Editors are people too; if they find improper capitalization, repeated words, and spelling mistakes (or typos) all within the first paragraph, they're apt to not read much past that. That's a tip, not a criticism; you should be able to do your own basic proofreading if you expect people to buy your writing. Matt Deres (talk) 23:40, 2 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Double Stuf

Is the Double Stuf Oreos cream filling now the same thickness, on average, as the original Oreo cookie was 15 or more years ago? Regular Oreos' filling seems to be nearly paper thin now. Is there a name for this form of consumer product attrition? I seem to recall someone telling me a very convincing argument about Starbucks shrinking their cup sizes over a period of years, but keeping the "size" names the same; and she had the cups to prove it. – Kerαunoςcopia^◁_galaxies 11:37, 1 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It seems to be most frequently referred to (as here and here) as "product downsizing". It's been a long-time strategy in the candy-bar industry, for one case. Deor (talk) 13:51, 1 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I can't believe it. Cookies are getting smaller and smaller. People are getting fatter and fatter. -- Toytoy (talk) 15:43, 1 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Surely not. That esteemed weight guru Marjorie Dawes tells us that if you halve the amount of food on your plate, you halve your calorie intake. Makes sense, not particularly earth-shattering so far. But her fabulous insight is that this means you can then double your portions and end up consuming no more calories. Brilliant! So, unless people are eating not just more cookies than they used to, but more than necessary to compensate for their reduction in size, they should actually be losing weight. Dawesian logic is incontrovertible. -- Jack of Oz ... speak! ... 21:05, 1 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Oh so if I stop putting salad on my plate, and instead feed myself half a plateful of Mars bars and crisps, I'll halve my calorie intake will I? Tee hee. --TammyMoet (talk) 15:45, 2 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, but make sure you don't fry them. All that oil is no good for you. :) -- 202.142.129.66 (talk) 01:33, 3 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Some incredible rechargeable batteries

I saw some incredibly cheap and incredibly large rechargeable batteries on eBay, such as ~~1700~~ 1800 mAh AAA and 3000 mAh AA NiMH batteries. Are they really so ... well ... juicy? -- Toytoy (talk) 15:12, 1 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Googlesearch thinks they are common [2] - on ebay however they could well be duds.87.102.77.88 (talk) 16:47, 1 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

~~They may be much thicker than your current battery. Dmcq (talk) 19:13, 1 June 2010 (UTC)~~[reply]

Sorry I was thinking about laptop replacement batteries, Dmcq (talk) 14:57, 2 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

See [3] for some discussion of some eBay NiMH batteries. While there are some things were buying no name brands are okay, NiMH batteries isn't one of them IMHO. I would stick with decent name brands (Powerex, Sanyo etc). You can sometimes get real name brand ones from eBay but unless you know what you're doing it's probably a bad idea since it's also full of fakes. Also bear in mind for a number of uses getting low self discharge NiMH batteries is better than ultra high capacity ones. Nil Einne (talk) 20:03, 1 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Low self-discharge NiMH battery is the link you want. Incidentally, I only use rechargeable batteries for high drain devices like digital cameras (force of habit). Are the low self discharge ones really good enough make it worthwhile to put them into a clock or calculator? Buddy431 (talk) 20:21, 1 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I wouldn't personally bother with rechargable batteries in a clock or calculator; their high cost means it'll probably take a long time to break even (if ever), although they should probably last about as long as normal alkaline in a low drain device, I believe, although I haven't really looked into cost for a while (and things may be different where you live) nor ever even tried a cost comparison (I still have quite a few spare alkaline AAs anyway). A mouse or keyboard or child's toy or whatever may be (i.e. more medium drain where you'll probably replace the batteries more then once a year).

(See next paragraph for a simple summary of this one) But LSD batteries are still better in high drain devices if you don't charge them regularly (even in a camera, many people may grab their camera after it hasn't been used much for months and without any freshly charged cells). This will vary from cell to cell but definitely after a few months you would likely expect better capacity from LSD batteries. And because of the difference voltage levels over the discharge cycle, some LSD batteries (e.g. Enerloops [4]) can last longer in some high drain devices than even higher capacity ones. See [5] [6] for example. In fact, it's all more complicated than that anyway; it also depends on the discharge current and other things, and all this (capacity, voltage, current they can supply, and how much capacity when supplying such a current, self discharge rate, even what happens when it 'self discharges', some gain internal resistance I believe) varies from cell to cell and brand to brand to some extent [7] [8] [9]. High capacity cells in particularly tend to degrade faster, so after enough recharge cycles (perhaps 50?) your LSD batteries may be better than high capacity ones [10].

The simple summary of the above is, an LSD battery is not necessarily worse than a higher capacity battery, even in a high drain device.

In my personal case, I got a set of LSD and 2 or so sets of high capacity batteries for a digital camera; that way, when you are using the camera a lot, e.g. on a holiday, and charge the cells regularly you get the hopefully better capacity (with the earlier caveats) from the high capacity cells but if you haven't used your camera for months it will hopefully still work (I would actually recommend you keep the set of high capacity cells in it and the LSD unused, switching only when the high capacity cells don't work anymore).

BTW for some reason Eneloops in particular tend to be very popular (I'm including 'Duraloops' which are Eneloops sold under the Duracell brand). I know they were first but even among those who you would think can and would research it themselves, but when I researched it myself then and again from a brief look now I'm far from convinced they are that much better, in fact in many ways there are some advantages and some disadvantages and many of the tests only seem to be comparing one set anyway (rather then multiple sets preferably purchased from very different places over a long time period) which is always dubious (but very common for so many things on the internet) given likely variance from batch to batch [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17]. In my particular case (they were being bought in Malaysia and this was in early 2009) the Enerloops were like double (wasn't aware of Duraloops at the time but don't know if they were available there) over the Powerex Imedion. If the price is very close as perhaps it is in the US (& Canada) particularly with the Duraloops which I think can easily be purchased at retail stores there, then the Enerloops will have more of a fight on their hands then they did when I was looking. Edit: In fact from [18] it appears even in the US things are far from clear-cut since some people claim you can get Rayovac hybrid LSD either branded or rebrands for about 1/3 of the price of the Duraloops and it's claimed these aren't that much worse at least for AA. Likely also has relevance to the LSD vs alkaline; it's claimed you can get these for about US$1 per cell.

P.S. As an even more random aside, I still hate the name 'precharged'. Nil Einne (talk) 12:25, 2 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Angela Merkel's tergiversions

Recently I saw her being accused of lying, but concretely, which are her last lies?--Quest09 (talk) 17:32, 1 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

See wikt:tergiversations. -- Wavelength (talk) 18:03, 1 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

In response to your question, she has been accused of lying by her opponents, but this is often a matter of interpretation. The most recent such accusation I could find after a bit of searching was from this commentator. He accuses her of saying that the EU aid package for Greece was to save the euro and Europe, when in fact it was to save big German banks and investors. However, we do not (yet) know whether he is correct. Even if he is correct, Merkel might honestly believe that the package was also necessary to save Europe. We won't know for some time whether the package did save the euro. (And whether it "saved Europe" will remain a subjective judgment.) It is really impossible to answer your question, "which are her last lies". (By the way, you can say "welche sind ihre letzten Lügen" in German, but the correct English translation is either "what are her latest lies" or "what are her most recent lies".) This question can't be answered because politicians generally do not make statements that are obvious lies when they are made. They are careful to speak in a way that at least their supporters can find credible. So, any recent lies that Merkel might have made will not be known until facts emerge that prove they were lies. Marco polo (talk) 13:39, 2 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Can an American get a Syrian tourist visa in Istanbul?

Can an American citizen obtain a tourist visa for Syria from the Syrian Consulate in Istanbul? - Vikramkr (talk) 21:35, 1 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

This forum and this forum suggest not, but that you can instead probably get one at the border with a bit of a wait. The second link has contact info for the consulate, which is probably a better bet than random forums. Calliopejen1 (talk) 21:46, 1 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

shout-outs in Pokémon

What are these references to, and where in the Pokémon games do they show up?

"Pokémon fight! Ready, go!"
"Hit me with your best shot!" (loses) "Fired away!"
"I'm a ramblin', gamblin' dude!"
"Want to be a winner is you?"
"Why so serious?"
"We'll KNOCK YOU DOWN!"
"My Pokémon Is Fight!"
"Never give up, never surrender!"

--75.25.103.109 (talk) 22:27, 1 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I took this from Bulbapedia:
Pokémon Diamond and Pearl contain many references to Internet memes and chatspeak. The lead translator, Nob Ogasawara, is a member of the Something Awful Forums, leading to numerous internet references. There are also multiple references to the Something Awful website and community scattered throughout the game, such as one Pokémon Trainer announcing "My Pokémon is Fight!". "Noob" is also used several times, "Owned" is said by a Galactic grunt and Buck, and ROFL is available as a speech option. Also, in the player's first encounter with Team Galactic, they tell Professor Rowan to "hand over his research so that they would refrain from causing massive damage to his assistant". The receptionist in the Team Galactic HQ and a Fisherman on Route 212 use the phrase "For the Win". In Veilstone City, a girl tells a man asked her in a strange language "if she liked Pokémon or something", and a clown tells the player "A winner is you". Perhaps coincidentally, Twinleaf Town shares its Japanese name with that of the original *chan imageboard, 2chan.
In-game dialogue makes reference to popular internet memes, such as Silver saying "why so serious?" in one of the battles against him, and after winning the Bug-Catching Contest, a contestant saying "You won? The winner is you!?"
During the Gym battle in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, Fantina exclaims "Never give up, never surrender!", the catchphrase from the 1999 science fiction comedy Galaxy Quest.
Earl is notable for changing the order of the words in his sentences, somewhat like Yoda from Star Wars, although his grammar is generally incorrect. For example, when asking a potential student if they want to learn from him, he will ask, "What you want to know? Want to be a winner is you?" This may be a reference to Engrish. He does not talk like this in Pokémon Stadium 2, which may be due to the quite extensive scope of the Pokémon Academy in this game. This could be a reference to the NES game Pro Wrestling, where the phrase "A WINNER IS YOU" is shown at the end of a winning match.
In the past, they were known as Gamblers, but this was changed due to ethical reasons to Gamer in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen. This occasionally caused slight problems, such as in FireRed and LeafGreen when a Gamer describes himself as a "rambling, gaming dude" instead of a "rambling, gambling dude." In Pokémon Diamond and Pearl and Pokémon Platinum, they are called PIs, implying that they are detectives rather than gamblers, but their dialog is all still based around gambling. --151.51.51.194 (talk) 22:57, 1 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Number 2 above is a reference to Hit Me With Your Best Shot. (That article even mentions the Pokemon mention.) Comet Tuttle (talk) 23:14, 1 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

"In Veilstone City, a girl tells a man asked her in a strange language "if she liked Pokémon or something"" I don't get it. --75.25.103.109 (talk) 00:10, 2 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Probably a reference to the "do u liek mudkipz" meme —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.167.165.2 (talk) 05:41, 2 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Bulbapedia does not seem to be very useful here, but some of them are apparently from Something Awful ("My Tank is Fight" for instance). "Why so serious" is from The Dark Knight. "A winner is you" is from Pro Wrestling (which has a section about the phrase). "Never give up, never surrender" is from Galaxy Quest. Adam Bishop (talk) 05:56, 2 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Oh wait I guess Bulbapedia already mentioned some of that. Oops. Anyway, "knock you down" is apparently from one or more Final Fantasy games. "Rambling gambling dude" seems to be from another Pokemon game. Adam Bishop (talk) 14:33, 2 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

"Knock you down" is uttered by Garland in Final Fantasy I. Titoxd^{(?!? - cool stuff)} 05:05, 3 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]