Miscellaneous desk
< January 30	<< Dec \| January \| Feb >>	February 1 >

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.

January 31

JOHN HENRY FAULK, JUNIOR - WIKIPEDIA PAGE

DEAR WIKIPEDIA, __ IS IT POSSIBLE FOR YOU GUYS TO SET UP A DIRECT LINK FROM & TO THE JOHN HENRY FAULK, JUNIOR FIND-A-GRAVE MEMORIAL # 18203 PAGE & YOUR WIKIPEDIA PAGE FOR HIM. __ HE & 3 GENERATIONS OF HIS EXTENDED FAULK FAMILY ARE @ OAKWOOD CEMETERY IN AUSTIN, TRAVIS COUNTY, TEXAS, USA. __ ON HIS WIKIPEDIA PAGE YOU ALREADY HAVE LINKS TO HIS BROTHER, HAMILTON FAULK & SISTER, MARY KOOCK. __ LET ME KNOW ABOUT IT. __ THANX, __ MITCH FAULK [Personal info redacted] — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mitchfaulk (talk • contribs) 00:14, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

You can do this yourself, assuming that info has been published somewhere verifiable and reliable. Just not in all caps, please. I have removed your personal contact information, see the top of this page regarding that policy. μηδείς (talk) 02:46, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

There's already a Find a Grave link in reference 22. Clarityfiend (talk) 04:01, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

names of people

What are the rules about posting names of people? I have tried to search for these rules, but could not find pertinent answers.

My name is Linda Gordon and there is a page about Linda Gordon, but it is not me. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda_Gordon There are many people named "Linda Gordon". Would it be possible to be more specific about names, perhaps sorting by full name including middle name(s)? Also, region of birth/death and other criteria such as what the person is known for: politician, artist, author, etc. Thank you for your time. Linda Gordon — Preceding unsigned comment added by Lindagordonx (talk • contribs) 02:06, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

From a quick check of the more obvious sources, it seems that the 'Linda Gordon' our article concerns (an American historian) either has no middle name, or doesn't customarily use it. As for 'posting names of people', I'm unsure what exactly you are asking. This is an encyclopaedia, and any biographies we have will concern individuals who meet the relevant notability criteria. We have no intention of listing every individual with a particular name, and the fact that a name is shared with other individuals is accordingly of no real significance to us. Where we have articles on notable people sharing the same name, we normally add as much detail as necessary to the title to disambiguate: see for example our long list of articles on people named William Davies - we only add individuals to such a list if we already have an article on them. AndyTheGrump (talk) 02:35, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I think perhaps the question relates more to how to find an article about a specific person with a common name.

It's a tricky problem. For example, if you search for my name (still no article about me...bah!) there is a "Steve Baker (motorcyclist)" - well, being a motorcyclist is not all there is to say about this guy - I'm sure he could come up with half a dozen other descriptions of himself. Worse still, there is a redlink to "Steve Baker (speedway rider)" - which is really a pain because he's also (pretty much by definition) a "motorcyclist". The more notable Steve Baker's there are, the harder it becomes to find snappy one or two word disambiguations to sort them all out. The system fails entirely when someone is equally famous for two or more different things...and we very frequently get it wrong. Our article on "Steve Baker (illusionist)" says that he's most famous as an escape artists - and is also a comedian. Sadly, I can't think of a better way to handle this.

Adding a middle name - or a birth date doesn't really help because very often someone is searching the encyclopedia to find out things like what some famous person's middle name is...and it doesn't help them to have to know the middle name in order to have to find out what their middle name is! Ditto for birth date.

So in the end, the compromise Wikipedia has settled on is to use the thing that the person is most famous for as the "disambiguation" term - on the very reasonable grounds that this is most likely to be the one thing that everyone who is searching for that person already knows about them.

In the case of Linda Gordon, it's not a very common name - and only one "notable" (in Wikipedia's rather specific meaning of that word) person with that name exists. Should it become evident that there is a second "sufficiently notable" Linda Gordon out there - then editors will doubtless create a disambiguation page to list them all - and (perhaps) move the existing Linda Gordon article to Linda Gordon (historian). But our policy here is not to do that until/unless we actually need to do it.

SteveBaker (talk) 03:03, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

For an example on how Wikipedia handles multiple people with the same name look at John Smith. CambridgeBayWeather (talk) 09:31, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The WP:UE rule for deciding whether and how to translate a foreign name into English is to follow English-language usage. Thus the notable family name and car brand Lamborghini should never be misspelled Lamborgini (sic). That error would also be a WP:BLP violation and against policy on both article and talk pages. There is no obvious need for Wikipedia to have more articles about "Steve Baker"s of which examples abound, most of them less than precocious. WP:REALNAME policy indicates that someone editing under the name of a well-known motorcyclist, politician, illusionist, producer, footballer, etc. but unrelated to any of them, should state so clearly on their userpage, as a precaution against impersonation. 84.209.89.214 (talk) 20:46, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The current policy on this is at Wikipedia:Article titles, where it says "Usually, [article] titles should be precise enough to unambiguously define the topical scope of the article, but no more precise than that. For instance, Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta is too precise, as Mother Teresa is precise enough to indicate exactly the same topic." and so on. Basically, we don't disambiguate titles unless there is a specific need to, usually as a result of there being more than one article that could reasonably use the same title. Matt Deres (talk) 12:02, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Laugh Lines

My laugh lines are getting dark and pigmented especially in the region near lip corners. Can I use No Marks anti marks cream for getting rid of the dark regions ? What is the alternative for it ? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 103.15.60.174 (talk) 05:48, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

We are not allowed to give medical advice. You need to see a doctor, perhaps a dermatologist. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 07:48, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

It is not medical but actually a cosmetic one. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 103.15.60.174 (talk) 07:59, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah that is not a request for medical advice. --Viennese Waltz 08:39, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

You can use anything you want to get rid of the dark regions. Personally, I choose not to laugh so much. Works wonders for me, and the women still love my baby-face features, even at the age of 41. KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 11:08, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

This is where cosmetics and medicine blur. I could recommend she find a brightening cream or serum, or a non-injectable filler, but are those products cosmetics or medical? --TammyMoet (talk) 12:06, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Trying to diagnose a medical problem based on them, or treat them surgically, would be medical advice. Trying to cover them up is not. StuRat (talk) 17:29, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

To the OP: If they are just dark because they are deeper, and less light makes it to the bottom, then filling them in with makeup might be an option. StuRat (talk) 17:32, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The user needs to talk a doctor. Darkening of the skin has all sorts of causes, some serious. We can neither diagnose this as a benign condition nor advise that a cosmetic solution is appropriate. μηδείς (talk) 17:57, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Not sure if it's genetics or I use a hydrating cream after showering (a generic brand of Oil of Olay), I sweat a lot during exercise (cleans pores) or drink a lot of water but I'm 59 and have only a few wrinkles around my eyes. (Also, I like the sun, which isn't good for skin.) Raquel Baranow (talk) 18:12, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Largest fishing fleet

Which country has the world's largest fishing fleet? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Andrei Marzan (talk • contribs) 06:30, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Since the highest total yield by far is the People's Republic of China, it is very likely that they have the largest fishing fleet (see: Fishing industry by country; sort by total). ~:71.20.250.51 (talk) 08:38, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Not necessarily. Look at Fishing fleet which indicates that in 2002 there were about 4,000,000 vessels. China had half of the worlds largest vessels. So China could have less vessels but catch more fish. Wikianswers gives Japan but I have no idea how reliable that is. The actual answer may be here but it requires an account. CambridgeBayWeather (talk) 09:27, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I was able to read it by clicking on the 'read online' button (eye symbol). The relevant table is on pg. 17. Unfortunately, it only lists OECD members and non-member countries who agree to participate. China isn't one of them; neither is Russia, surely another big fleet. Dalliance (talk) 13:17, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Does "largest fishing fleet" mean the most fishing boats, regardless of size ? Are recreational fishing boats included ? StuRat (talk) 16:57, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Not to be oversuspicious or anything, but I somewhat doubt the complete seriousness of this question, considering that one of the blocks of text in Help:Contents reads, "If searching Wikipedia has not answered your question (for example, questions like "Which country has the world's largest fishing fleet?"), try the Reference Desk. Volunteers there will attempt to answer your questions on any topic, or point you towards the information you need." Note also that precisely the same question has been asked at least twice before, so a simple ref-desk search would have got the OP some information. Deor (talk) 19:30, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry, didn't note that. I guess that it was a simple co-incidence--Yutah Andrei Marzan Ogawa 04:59, 1 February 2014 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Andrei Marzan (talk • contribs)

Yes, I am asking for the country with the most fishing boats, regardless of size or yield.--Yutah Andrei Marzan Ogawa 05:02, 1 February 2014 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Andrei Marzan (talk • contribs)

Amount of grain in hoop-las

Hi, just wondering about multi-grain hooplas, there's the implication that there's five equal quantities of grain indicating the five individually coloured hooplas, but when you look at the ingredients 74% of the hooplas are cereal flour, split into 44% oat, 13% barley, 9% wheat 4% maise and 4% rice, so if this is the case why are the hooplas equally distributed in colour, is this artificial to suggest that the level of grain is equally balanced when the hooplas are actually mostly oat? Horatio Snickers (talk) 10:03, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Could you explain what meaning of hoopla you're using? Matt Deres (talk) 12:03, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Indications are that it's a Cheerios-like cereal made by the Sainsbury's company. There is no mention of "hoopla" in that article, but there are a number of Google hits for the product. As to the specific question, that would take more research. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 12:26, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Well the list of ingredients here includes colours, and that would be definitive, over any "implication". Where is it implied that there are five equal quantities?--Shantavira|^{feed me} 13:08, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I would guess they advertise that they contain 5 grains, and they also have 5 colors of cereal pieces, so people infer that each of the 5 pieces is made from a different grain. This is probably intentional, legal deception on their part. (Of course, the food industry is full of such deception, such as "juice" that contains little or no actual juice, just colored, artificially flavored, corn-syrup and water.) StuRat (talk) 17:03, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

VFW Posts claiming to be first

Hello, Your page referencing the VFW states in the history section, "There are two other Posts which claim to be the first, but the VFW ....". There is no other elaboration to explain this statement any where I can find (background pages and/or archives).

Which Posts claim to be the first? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.0.121.74 (talk) 10:41, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Good question. The sentence gives a reference, but the link is to the front page of the VFW1 website, which says nothing about two other claimants, and would probably not be an ideal reliable source anyway. For people unfamiliar with the topic, the article in question is VFW. Matt Deres (talk) 12:21, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

This edit, by an IP, about 3 years ago, may provide some insight.[1] ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 12:53, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Tatau in Far Cry 3

Why is a tattoo called a tatau in Far Cry 3?--78.156.109.166 (talk) 20:24, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not familiar with Far Cry 3, but given our article's description of the game's setting, the second sentence of Pe'a#Description looks relevant. Deor (talk) 20:57, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Far Cry 3 is set on an apparently Polynesian island with Native Islanders as well as non-natives populating the islands. Many characters speak with an apparent accent, presumably of a Polynesian language, so they are saying the proper word. Mingmingla (talk) 21:24, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Mixing the indigo color

How? I have these fruit colors (danish: frugtfarver) to mix from; blue, red, yellow, green. It's for a rainbow ice lantern. I've started by a layer of red on top (although it's in the bottom of the ice lantern, but that's the top of the ice sculpture). I tilt the form so it looks like a rainbow. I wait till the red freezes completely, then add/freeze the next color. I've calculated the precise thickness of the layers so they're equal (they need to be, to look like a rainbow). The form is 1.1 litres so I divide by 7 layers and get 1.57 decilitres for each layer. Any idea of how to make it look bent? And how to make the first (red) layer to be as long as the other layers? Idea: you could put something in the corner in the bottom, under the red water (not ice, since then you can't put anything down there; remember, the form is tilted when freezing)?--78.156.109.166 (talk) 20:45, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Isaac Asimov wrote: "It is customary to list indigo as a color lying between blue and violet, but it has never seemed to me that indigo is worth the dignity of being considered a separate color. To my eyes it seems merely deep blue." The article Indigo describes some variations that might be called indigo and Indigo dye describes natural and synthetic dyes. Danish Wikipedia has an article if that is your language. 84.209.89.214 (talk) 21:06, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I've always personally believed that Indigo was "added" to the rainbow to give the mnemonic device "Roy G. Biv" some credence. It really doesn't belong, because the 6 colors rainbow "Red-orange-yellow-green-blue-violet" has a much nicer symmetry, three primary and three secondary colors, fits well into a color wheel; all of that. Indigo just messes all that up. --Jayron32 02:31, 1 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

According to Indigo#Classification as a spectral color, it was added to the rainbow by Isaac Newton to get seven colors, so he could create a link with the tones of the major scale. --Carnildo (talk) 03:12, 1 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for that. Still, it has been artificially "shoehorned" into the system. --Jayron32 03:35, 1 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Not really - the real-world colors form a continuous range of frequencies - you could equally well describe the spectrum with three colours or three hundred colors. Given the way our eyes work, and the 'tristimulus' theory of color, I'd definitely say that orange is every bit as artificial/unnecessary as "indigo" - and that there should be a named color between green and blue (conventionally "cyan"). That leaves use with Red/Yellow/Green/Cyan/Blue...plus violet...which is a bit odd because of the way our "red" pigment actually responds to the opposite end of the spectrum - which is what makes it seem like the colors from a circle - when in terms of physics, it's really it's only a linear frequency variation. SteveBaker (talk) 03:56, 1 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

True, there's a hundred different ways to carve up the color spectrum. There's RGB, CMYK, etc. etc. But a nice system is the "Red-Yellow-Blue" as primaries (i.e what they teach the elementary school kids) and then you have the intermediaries of "red + yellow = orange" "yellow + blue = green" and "red + blue = violet". Indigo doesn't fit into that system. It's as arbitrary as any other system, but it has it's charm: the symmetry is nice, for example. Seven, as a prime number, lacks that symmetry. --Jayron32 04:09, 1 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

... the "Red-Yellow-Blue" sytem is a Subtractive color system, of course, but no less valid for paints and the OP's rainbow ice lantern. (There were very few colours that I couldn't mix when I was at Primary school, but I can't remember mixing indigo.) For the OP's rainbow, I would just mix two shades of blue, one closer to cyan and the other much darker (navy?). It is unlikely that anyone will say "that's not indigo". I can't think of an easy way to get the rainbow curve, except using special moulds. Dbfirs 12:48, 1 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I found and used this: 0.5/3 of red and 2.5/3 of blue. Multiply by 2 and you get 1 drop of red and 5 drops of blue. I heard somewhere there should be very little red (compared to blue) in indigo.--78.156.109.166 (talk) 20:36, 1 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, that sounds about right, but the exact proportions will depend on the spectral properties of your red and blue. Pigments vary in light absorption, even when they look the same colour to us. Dbfirs 08:32, 3 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Steve, the "red" (L) pigment does not respond to the other end of the spectrum, as you can see in plots like this one. Also, RGB is not "the way our eyes work". The RGB system is only indirectly related to human color vision, and other additive primary systems have been used in the past, such as red-green-violet. You should know all this because I and others have corrected you over and over for years, but you seem unable to let go of your misconceptions. I wish I knew what was going on in your head. -- BenRG (talk) 21:35, 1 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Note that according to Indigo#Classification as a spectral color, Newton's blue was what we'd probably call cyan, and his indigo was what we'd call blue. In a red-yellow-(modern) blue system of primaries, cyan is the odd one out, but in a red-green-blue system, orange is the odd one out. Since there are four psychological primaries, there should perhaps be an eighth color, chartreuse, in there, but it doesn't look as distinctive, for whatever reason. -- BenRG (talk) 21:35, 1 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]