Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2007 June 27

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June 27

stock exchange

what is a stock exchange? how is it related to equities/shares? do please explain the above 2 related questions as early as possible? thanks. Ms. Mohana

Try Stock Exchange. Zain Ebrahim 07:10, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

Havoc

Please explain the use of the word 'havoc' in the context of Shakespeare's play Henry V. Janesimon 07:23, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

Try http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/havoc, the article even references Henry V.. 194.168.231.2 09:22, 27 June 2007 (UTC)Wes

About Rama

It is said that Rama was blackish in complexion.But he was a kshatriya and obviously an Aryan.He was also an aajaanabahu i.e long armed which is the physical charecteristic of a nordic guy.How can a nordic who is obviously fair,tall,long armed and blonde,be dark?218.248.2.51 10:15, 27 June 2007 (UTC)ecclesiasticalparanoid

Who says that Rama was blackish? If you look at Rama you will see he is normally – well – whiteish. Perhaps you mean a dark complexion, which means dark hair? Note that Aryan does not mean Nordic in a Hindu context. See Arya and Aryan.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 11:35, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

Complexion refers to skin, not hair colour. Johnbod 18:37, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

You may be thinking of Krishna, whose name means 'black', though he is nearly always portrayed as dark blue (or, lately, pale blue). —Tamfang 01:07, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

Origins of the Name Cuthbert

I have a copy odf a bore-brieve for the Colbert's of Seignelay ,(relating them to the Cuthbert's of Castehill in Inverness), issued as an act of the Scot's Parliament stating that Cuthbert is a Jutish name. Is this in fact correct? Wolf409 11:09, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

The -bert ending is a Germanic name ending, meaning bright, most likely introduced to Britain by the Anglo-Saxon migrations (which included Jutes and Frisians as well as Angles and Saxons). For example the Anglo-Saxon king Ecgberht/Egbert. However the Normans, despite adopting a French language, still retained some of the Germanic influences in names, for example, Robert was brought to Britain by the Normans. A quick google for 'name etymology' suggests Cuthbert is Old English in origin, meaning famous-bright. But it is difficult to track names back to the individual tribes that made up the anglo-saxons, as written records are really only from the time of Old English and surnames only became common more recently still. It would have apearred as a surname taken from the first name, and possibly named after St Cuthbert. Colbert appears to be a seperate French name (the -bert from the same root though). It's possible it was taken as a Francisisation of the name Cuthbert (rather as immigrants to America took on Anglicised forms of names). Cyta 11:31, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

Interestingly googling "bore brieve" gives only three results, one of which is a Cuthbert ancestry page, which I am sure you have either read, or maybe even written? I was going to suggest that the distribution of surnames, and where the various tribes immigrated most. But knowing you are searching for a Scottish name, and the Jutes were mostly on the South Coast I suspect (as the website suggests) Cuthbert is named after the Northumbrian saint, who our article suggests was born in modern day Scotland. The Northumbrians though were Angles rather than Jutes I believe. Cyta 11:46, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

Many,many thanks I am proud to bear this name, Intrestingly enough the is a Cuthbert mentioned as lighting the beacon to alert Robert the Bruce that it was safe to return to Scotland (he allegedly had taken refuge in Rathlin Island). This was in Ayrshire which were Bruce lands, & I still have familial connections to a village there. Like you I am interested in all things Anglo Saxon.

Despite it's Anglo-Saxon origins it definitely seems to be more popular in Scotland than England. You might find this site [1] interesting. Glad I could be of help. Cyta 13:41, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

Thanks once again, sorry for all the spelling errors! Please if you have any other useful links, or info, can you post it on this page? Thanks once again.Wolf409 15:19, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

Well [2] has a little bit more on your name, apart from that I can recommend google, phrases like 'anglo-saxon name', 'name etymology', the page I mentioned before from googling "bore brieve" in quote marks ([3]). I'm not sure how much we can trust websites, but this seems a well established etymology. You might also be interested in Genealogy and references therein. Cyta 07:10, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

Gordon Brown and Cabinet changes

1. In the comming days will the new prime minister of the UK appoint a new cabinet or at least greatly reshuffle Blairs Cabinet? 2. If yes who is likely to get top posts such as Defence, Foriegn office Attorney General; Home secretary ect? 3. In the US if a new president comes in and he is in the same party as the previous prime minister he may or may not make signifcant cabinet changes, what is the general in UK for the appoint of a new cabinet if a new prime minister is of the same party as his predecessor.

• 1 Probably reshuffle with some new entrants and some leaving the cabinet
• 2 Hard to say - Wikipedia is not clairvoyant!
• 3 A new Prime Minister will normally re-shuffle the cabinet, we tend only to speak of a new cabinet after a general election win by the opposition. DuncanHill 14:47, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

Personally, I can see Jack Straw getting promoted again from Commons Leader. He's a Brownite alright, and even ran his leadership campaign. Brown probably won't be happy with him in such a minor position. [[User Talk:martianlostinspace|martianlostinspace]] 15:56, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

Well, now you know! Clio the Muse 02:42, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

Egyptian coup of 1952

Could I have some more details on the above, please? Captainhardy 15:36, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

1952 Revolution - X201 16:10, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for that useful link. Captainhardy 07:19, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

The title of which is insufficiently specific for an encyclopedic article. -- JackofOz 10:50, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

Yes, I agree. Can the title be changed to, say, the 'July 23 Revolution', by which I think it is more generally known, or the 'Egyptian Revolution of 1952'? I would do this myself, but I'm not quite sure how to go about it. Besides, I feel sure that lots of people have their eyes on this, and I do not wish to start a revolution within the revolution about the revolution! Clio the Muse 22:38, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

Having now been advised on technical matters, I have raised the issue of a title change on the relevant talk page, and will leave it for a day or so before taking further action. Clio the Muse 23:29, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

Why do you expect objections, Clio? I moved the page. --Ghirla^-трёп- 20:29, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

Thanks, Ghirla! You might put this down to inexperience on my part, but there is, to be frank, another factor at work which explains my excess of caution. Some of the pages on modern history here are political battlegrounds, rather than scholarly articles. The page on the Axis Powers, to take but one example, is, in my view, little more an ideological dustbin, a catch-all for every conceivable national prejudice. I personally could not recommend it to anyone. I have learned to tread lightly, and with care. Clio the Muse 22:30, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

Bank

I purchased a gift card 2 fridays ago, and on Tuesday I recieved a call from my bank telling me they had forgot to collect payment for the card (which I dispute). They then debited my account for the ammount of the gift card.

1) Can they debit my account without my concent/knowledge for this reason? 2) What gov. agency can I contact if they can't (US)? 3) How do I file a small claims suit against the bank?

Thanks, XM 18:08, 27 June 2007

Whether they think they can or not, I'd say the first step is to switch banks. They obviously have a serious problem if they either can't count on their people to take payment for cards before giving them away or think they can get away with collecting double payment.

So far as you actual question: do you have proof of initial payment? If so, you might be able to solve this by going in and confronting them with proof. If they're stubborn talking in a reasonable voice just loud enough that other customers have to hear what's going on can change their mind. If you don't have proof, you'll have trouble with small claims. IANAL though. — Laura Scudder ☎ 18:36, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

1. yes, if they honestly believe they're correcting an error
2. that depends on the bank and the state - Bank regulation#United States
3. that depends on the jurisdiction - Nolo Press has, in my experience, some sage books in this regard - see Everyone's guide to small claims court ISBN 9781413304909.

But note that both a court and a regulator are going to want to see evidence that you've pursued the issue through the bank to the exhaustion of their complaints process - they want to be your point of last resort, not the first place you turn to. In the interim you may consider not switching banks, as holding onto your custom might motivate them to act better - but there's no reason you can't open an account elsewhere and move the great bulk of your money and business there. I would also recommend you do everything in writing - don't call them, and if they call you tell them to write a letter instead. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 18:44, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

But beware the complaints process if it turns into arbitration - arbitration is binding, and you'll sign away your right to sue. In some cases that might be the better route, but go into that with your eyes open. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 18:48, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

Issue resolved (they gave the money back). Thanks for the help! XM

Getting better with practice

Has there been any research into, and are there any experimentally-supported quantitative models of, the rates at which speed and accuracy improve with practice, in the general case or for any specific type of task? NeonMerlin 19:54, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

There is bucketloads and bucketloads of stuff on this, since it is vital to industrial assembly lines. But you seem to have taken a wrong detour and ended up at the Humanities Desk, and whilst people here will probably be happy to try and help, you may like to move your question to Science. While I'm here, though: there are (numerous) quantitative mathematical models as well as lots of general research, but I couldn't find anything from a quick google. From a historical perspective, Henry Ford was very important in this regard, since he studied the exact speed that each industrial process took, in an effort to improve efficiency. This doesn't relate directly to the issue of learning speed, but it is something you could look at, which might feed you the right search string. Try also operations research for general info. The Mad Echidna 22:42, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

A student of typing or piano learns that regular periods of practice spaced out over time increases the overall ability to perform, and that any given time speed and accuracy can be traded off. I do not see really good sources on this in Wikipedia. See Spacing effect which is somewhat on topic but which sounds like a term paper and suffers from "recentism" by leaving out classic writings on the topic, and does not have a general quantitative model such as you seek. There is some basic info in Spaced repetition , Learning (which is rather general) ,and Memory. There have been literally thousands of psychology experiments over many decades in how a variety of perceptual motor tasks have speed accuracy tradeoffs, but with improvement with practice. There have been a great many quantitative models, but you would have to hit the journals to find the recent ones. There has been research in how speed and accuracy improve with practice in many tasks. There were some experiments many years ago in the learning of Morse code, looking at spaced versus massed practice. There has been research in keyboard or typing training. There is some info in a psych lecture notes at[4]. This powerpoint presentation discusses the speed-accuracy tradeoff curve or operating characteristic, and the effects of pushing the person toward speed or accuracy or overall bandwidth, and mentions some studies and mathematical expressions for speed-accuracy operating characteristics. A general psychology textbook should have a chapter on this. The book "Attention and Effort" by Daniel Kahneman (1973) might have something quantitative on this. It also falls within the area of Human factors. (Or did you mean athletic training?) Edison 22:55, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

Boat-shaped garden island

What is the name of the C16-C17 island garden in a Northern Italian lake that is shaped like a boat, with a limestone bow and stern? Or am I dreaming? --Wetman 20:34, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

Isola Bella (Lago Maggiore) ? ---Sluzzelin talk 22:03, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

This site says the complex was supposed to look like a ship, representing the Borromeo family's glory, but in reality the plan never got completed, and the actual result is compared to a torta. ---Sluzzelin talk 22:21, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

(after edit conflict) Here in English [5] Mhicaoidh 22:33, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

Yes that's it. Well after all, the "boat" appears more in reading about it than in looking at it. I was hunting for a prototype for the inventive "boat" in the water entrance to Villa Vizcaya, Miami, which is more boat-like than the Barcaccia fountain in Piazza di Spagna, and far more boatlike than the Tiber Island. . --Wetman 14:59, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

I'm sure there is a small one - maybe just 100-200 feet long - somewhere, with a definite prow, but I can't remember where, or you might have been thinking of this M.A. Dal Re engraving of what the Isola Bella was meant to look like [6]. There's always the Marble Boat from the Summer Palace.Johnbod 18:49, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

Heres a dinky one [7] Mhicaoidh 12:50, 29 June 2007 (UTC)