Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2007 July 18

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July 18

Cats

is it true that old cats will leave their home and go away somewhere to die —The preceding unsigned comment was added by RFslats (talk • contribs).

Well, it's true. Our 16 year old female cat never left our acreage property but was ill, probably in renal failure, stopped eating one day and then disappeared. Last Wednesday she could not be found and we searched high and low both outside and within the house. Today she was found (luckily) by a neighbour four acreages down the road, lying on the grass peacefully but was gone. This was a cat who never ventured past the letterbox and kept to a daily routine and generally would be termed "an inside cat". I do not know why she did it, but now I know for sure that it does happen and we were lucky she was found (name tag/phone number) so she could be buried at home. It occurred with another family cat about 20 years ago. 30 September 2007

I've never heard that one before, but it wouldn't surprise me to hear that cats want privacy to die, seeing as how they're very private animals. --PolarWolf 02:29, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Animals don't know they're going to die and don't make plans for it. They do know when they feel sick or weak, and may change their habits then, going different places. In particular, the cat's instinct to seek a safe hiding place is likely to be stronger when it's sick. -Anon, July 18, 03:00 (UTC).

"I am just going outside and may be some time." said Snagglepuss one morning...203.41.139.85 04:17, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

I've heard this old wives' tale about cats going off to die before. It's been probably 20+ years since I first heard it. Dismas|^(talk) 12:31, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

And what do you infer from the longevity of the story? —Tamfang 05:21, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

I've known a lot of sick cats and they tend to stay around their owner who can look after them before finally taking them to the vet once it's clear they've reached the end. I would guess that less well cared for cats might find somewhere they can be alone when they get sick, much as they do when they're about to have kittens.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 13:12, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Well - that at least suggests one possible explanation why they run away - stay at home when you aren't feeling so good and it could be a quick trip to the vet followed by "Game Over". SteveBaker 02:25, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

My cat last year hid under the riding mower and died before we could find him ( infection). He behaved listlessly and disinterested in human contact just before he hid. We thought he had gone back to wherever he had originally come from (yes he was a stray). I wish I had known he wouldn't come to me in his time of sickness. :( --TripleBatteryLife 19:49, 24 July 2007 (UTC)

motorcycle classes

how do i go about finding the motorcycle classes available and how do i get an id

                                            michelle frye
                                  <e-mail removed>

It would help if you told us where you lived. Also, please do not post e-mails on here. The convention is to reply to questions here, and e-mail addresses are just spam fodder. Splintercellguy 04:15, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

If you're in the US, you should check out the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, which offers many riding courses. Otherwise, I'd contact your local motorcycling organization (like those listed in Category:Motorcyclists organizations) and find out what courses they recommend. — Laura Scudder ☎ 04:23, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

The people who license and register people and vehicles may have information. 68.39.174.238 15:07, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Multiple hair out of one pore

What is the condition called when there is more than one hair that comes out of a single pore from your skin? Acceptable 03:29, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Please don't assume you have cancer. Hair arises from hair follicles, usually singly. There are certain very rare disorders where multiple hairs may grow from a single follicle. These include Tufted Hair Folliculitis (a type of alopecia) [1] and trichofolliculoma (which is a type of follicular hamartoma.) [2] Multiple hair follicle nevi (an unusual type of mole) may also appear to have many hairs from a single pore. There are also, very likely, spontaneous examples of multi-hair follicles with no underlying condition. If you are concerned with a strange looking hair or follicle, please see a doctor. Rockpocket 05:25, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Oh no, it's nothing serious. But it occurs in some parts of my body and several of my friends have it too. I just thought it was something common. Acceptable 22:20, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

There may indeed be some very rare disorders that cause multiple shafts to grow from a single follicle, but there is also at least one common one: Trichostasis spinulosa. AmigoNico (talk) 03:38, 19 February 2013 (UTC)

Nameless trailer help.

So, I was watching Transformers (mindless fun), and during the previews, there's a trailer, shot in digital film. It's a going-away party for someone named Rob in NYC, when the lights go out, and there's a shake. Everyone attending heads to the roof top, with people talking about "no creature can't make a noise like that". Swivel to Time Square(?), massive explosion. Focus on street, people start running. From direction of explosion, cars start flying, and the head of the Statue of Liberty flies onto the street. There's a date (forgot exactly).

It appears to be a disaster epic... I was thinking a re-make of Godzilla. Mr. Raptor 03:58, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

See Cloverfield. Rockpocket 04:00, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Thank you for asking this! I saw Transformers as well as this trailer and I was wondering what the movie was as well. I wonder how well their "let's not include the name of the film in the trailer" advertising is going. Dismas|^(talk) 05:49, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Pretty well, by the looks of it, [3] how many other films with no name have their own WP article and has the geekosphere abuzz with (at least) three viral websites? Rockpocket 06:20, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Dreams and food

Is it true that some foods eaten before going to sleep can induce strange dreams? --124.181.193.77 05:38, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Apparently people on an Atkins diet demonstrated a two-and-a-half fold increase in the number of dreams, most of which were described as "unpleasant". Whether the diet was simply stimulating memory or actually causing the dreams is unclear. [4]

Cheese is meant to give you nightmares. Aaadddaaammm 08:00, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

No. I think that is mustard: Scrooge to Marley: "A slight disorder of the stomach makes them cheats. You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato. There's more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are! A Christmas Carol. Rmhermen 17:42, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Cheese is meant to give you nightmares; what cartoons did you watch? :) As you can see in the quote you give, many things are popularly believed to affect dreams negatively. Whether any of them actually do is the subject of the question. Ah, everything I need to know about popular culture I learnt in the Beano. Skittle 20:58, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

My understanding on foods and dreams is based on the proven fact that dreams occur in REM sleep. This is a very light sleep, where rapid eye movemements under the closed lids are common. Foods that are hard to digest, in general, or by certain individual, are likely to cause mild discomfort and disturb the deeper rhythms of sleep which results in a greater occurence of REM sleep and thus a greater propensity to dream. Has anyone ever had a dream that was not strange? user: Richard Avery

I have had some dreams so extremely commonplace that the next day I thought about them and was surprised to observe that the dream events were just that and ha not really happened. Edison 01:53, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

What matters is not the number of times you dream - it's the number of dreams you actually remember. AFAICT you only remember a dream if you wake up before it's over. So I would imagine that the only possible mechanism for food to affect this would be if it makes you wake up prematurely. I strongly suspect this is an urban legend. SteveBaker 18:32, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

I believe that one of the mechanisms proposed for cheese inducing dreams was that the taste lingers in your mouth and gives you that little kick of reality that might wake you up. Capuchin 14:43, 23 July 2007 (UTC)

Obviously it is possible for food to affect dreams- ask someone who's spent some time in the Lucid Dreaming community- nicotine patches and B12 supplements can in fact increase the vividness of dreams (and for LDers, lucidity and control), which makes them easier to remember. Lately, I've been having a couple bottles of kool-aid before I go to bed, and waking up remembering a dream at least every other day. It wasn't until a couple days ago that I realized why, when I told someone about a very weird dream, and they told me to stop having so much sugar before I went to sleep. Whether they change the type of dream, who knows, but there definitely are chemicals out there that affect sleep and dreams. --L^augh! 18:45, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

Antartica a penal colony

Iam surprised that Anartica has never been used as a penal colony I just read the article not even in the late 1700`s when i think the icy continent was discovered.Or settled in any real form.Before the treaty was signed.Do you have any reasons why it wasn`t used for these purposes.

It's very very very very cold and at a very remote location? The Arctic is similarly disused as a penal colony (well no large scale colony anyway) because it's too cold and require too much resource to set one up (you have to transport all the lumber and building material whereas you can just chop down tress in the other penal colony. If a location that's closer to the people is not used, why would they use a further away location with similar conditions? --antilived^{T | C | G} 07:39, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

It was too much like Rura Pentha?Atlant 11:52, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Penal transportation was never a great success. Even in a resource-rich country like Australia, the expense of supplying, organising, and maintaining penal colonies soon proved not to be worth the effort.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 13:28, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Yeah it's well known penal colonies don't work. Hundred's of years later they turn round and beat you at cricket! Cyta 14:30, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

One of the reasons for transportation is to annex the country as a colony. In the case of Australia, if the British hadn't colonised, the Dutch almost certainly would have. It was difficult to attract free settlers to such a remote destination, so unwilling colonists were an obvious alternative.--TrogWoolley 18:48, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Wasnt North America also partly a penal colony at some time? 80.2.202.130 21:15, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

Yes, before those damn yanks went and declared independence, making Aussieland necessary. The American colonies are featured as a target for "transportation" in the Daniel Defoe book Moll Flanders, for example. StuRat 21:38, 24 July 2007 (UTC)

The point of a penal colony isn't to execute people. Putting them in Antarctica without lots and lots of logistical support (clothing, food, housing, heating, etc) would be a certain death-sentence. If you want to kill people there are much cheaper ways than dragging them halfway around the planet and through ice floes just so they'll freeze to death 24 hours later. If you want to keep them alive but just put them somewhere where they won't bother you anymore - then picking somewhere as far away from home as possible (on the opposite side of the planet!) - but where they can fend for themselves without having to send them support ships - is the cheapest and safest option. Hence Australia. SteveBaker 18:07, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

Are there any other programs?

I searched for iMovie, and I tried to download the program, but it was a MAC program. Then I downloaded the tools for Windows to download MAC files, but the evaluation version of WinZip had run out, and then it became to download the thing became complicated. Is there any other download program that makes clips and montages out there? If not, that's okay because I can get my mom to buy WinZip to download iMovie. Again, is there any other download program that makes clips and montages out there? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sirdrink13309622 (talk • contribs)

You can't run mac applications unless you have a mac. For Windows you can try Windows Movie Maker or other software listed here. --antilived^{T | C | G} 07:41, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

And try WinRAR for zip files. It is more powerful than WinZIP, and it's free. 199.172.246.196 18:24, 23 July 2007 (UTC)

distance between cities in Brazil

220.224.227.19 07:16, 18 July 2007 (UTC)which is these three cities is the closest to Pecan, rio grande or fortaleza or salvador

Where is Pecan? --Anon, July 18, 07:52 (UTC).

Google Maps can't find Pecan, Brazil. (which doesn't mean much - the server could be going nuts). --Charlene 09:38, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps we need to ask a Brazil nut to locate Pecan for us. Or maybe we should ask someone from academia (or is that macadamia ?). StuRat 21:25, 24 July 2007 (UTC)

New Non Lethal weapon

Did you see this thing ? Website is www(dot)cobrastunlight(dot)com It is a LUXEON LED light, has a laser in it and can shoot pepper spray. 205.240.146.58 08:51, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Can this be placed in appropriate articles ? 205.240.146.58 08:56, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Sounds like WP:SPAM to me; if others agree, perhaps one could delete this entire section?

Atlant 11:57, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Looking at the IP's other edits, I'd say this is not spam. Theresa Knott | Taste the Korn 12:05, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

I've delinked the URL, since this is probably a genuine question at least in my opinion. On the other hand having the URL here, it will eventually become cached by google no matter what the intentions of the questioner, so this seems like a reasonable compromise--VectorPotential^Talk 12:45, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

It's just a flashlight with a "psychologically deterring" LED "laser" and a built in pepper spray. The product is already described in our pepper-spray flashlight article, with a link to the website. Gandalf61 12:47, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

What disease is about the gull bladder?

--QSYM 17:47, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Do you mean a Gallbladder, or a gull's bladder? --Dweller 17:52, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

And can you get Foley catheters to fit gulls? —Tamfang 17:08, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

human --QSYM 17:56, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

There are a number of diseases pertaining to the gallbladder. See gallbladder. MrRedact 17:59, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

What are these?

http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/pictoria/b/1/4/im/b14962.jpg http://images.aproximation.org/Unidentified.jpg

what is 1 and 2 1 i think is a unknown town and 2 is like a fossil? how about you?

--QSYM 17:55, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Two is clearly a painting and 1 is out of a badly digitized film or something. 68.39.174.238 19:15, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

The first one is a "street in an unidentified city, showing Hansom Cab", from around 1910, according to its description page. --TotoBaggins 19:46, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Why is liquer spelled like this or is the otherway around?

--Frolence 17:58, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Do you mean liquor or liqueur? --Richardrj ^{talk email} 17:59, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

If the latter, it's because it's French. 68.39.174.238 01:42, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

Us Brits also spell liqueur "liqueur" (and we pronounce it li-cure). I *think* that our definition is less broad than the American "liquor", e.g. Jack Daniels is regarded as a liquor, but is definitely not a liqueur. However, I stand by with asbestos underwear, in case I'm wrong. --Dweller 07:47, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

No, that's the same in the States, except "a liquor" falls oddly on my ear -- to me "liquor" is a mass noun for the most part. Saying that JD's is a "spirit" sounds more grammatical (but might get you beat up in the sort of bar where people drink a lot of it). --Trovatore 07:52, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

Ah, OK, so the only difference then is that we don't use the term "liquor" and are comfortable to define whiskeys (and, more commonly, whiskys) as spirits. --Dweller 07:58, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

Here in the erstwhile colonies, liqueur usually means something sweet, like amaretto or creme de menthe. Oh, look, we have an article and a list. --LarryMac | Talk 13:46, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

Yeah - in the USA, liquor means any kind of alcohol stronger than wine or beer. In the UK, liqueur means one of those super-sweet highly alcoholic drinks with fruit or chocolate or something in it that you'd drink after dessert in a formal meal. The approximate translation is that 'liquor' in the USA means 'spirits' or 'shorts' in the UK. SteveBaker 18:00, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

Cost-of-living comparisons

When applying for jobs, sometimes a potential employer asks for salary requirements. If the job is in a different city, it would probably be wise to adjust what I would ask for here to compensate for a different cost-of-living (especially if it is higher in the new city). Is there any simple way to translate what salaries would be equivalent in different cities? Or is there a specific piece of data that is best used as a multiplier to determine this? (Specifically referring to U.S. cities.) — Michael J 18:57, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Salary.com has a "salary wizard" that is zip-code sensitive. While salaries tend to be higher in cities with higher costs of living, you may find that it is not always proportional to the change in the cost of living. For example, while houses in California cost three to four times as much as comparable houses in Texas, you will probably not be able to double your salary in California. You will get a larger salary, but a smaller house. Marco polo 20:01, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Incidentally - when you get this question on a job application form - the standard advice is to either leave the space blank or write "OPEN". Don't put an actual number there unless they absolutely demand that you do so. If you pick a number that's too small - they are unlikely to pay you more - and if you pick a number that's too big, you may not even get as far as an interview (at which they might be so impressed that they'd actually offer you that amount!). Save it for the end of the interview. When they know whether you are any good and you have a feel for whether you like the place - and they ask the "So, do you have any questions for us?" thing - THEN is your cue that it's time to talk about salary. But by all means check out salary.com (and houses in parts of CA where you'd actually find a well paid job are 5x Texas prices...at least!) SteveBaker 17:20, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

One approach is to ask "what is the salary range for this position?". That edges them closer to saying a number, and gives you something to go on. If you feel you are, say, at the top of your range in your current location, then ask for the top of the range in the new location, and explain that you're using that rationale. --TotoBaggins 17:29, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the information. Usually I do leave it blank, but sometimes in online applications the "Salary" box has a red * next to it, meaning required field. (And my entire search is being concentrated in the Northeast U.S. — no intention of going to CA or TX!) Thanks again. — Michael J 19:57, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

Several wiki-questions

I just finished scanning in an ancient book (IE. Out-of-copyright) that's almost totally pictures and no text (It's an old National Geographic thing) as a bunch of TIFFs.

Now, I want to give this to WMF somehow, but don't know where it should go. WS is the place for books, but do they want a book that's a bunch of images? It's not anything for WP... does WS even take TIFFs? 68.39.174.238 19:19, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Put the pictures up at Wikimedia Commons. See, for example, the way De Humanis Corporis Fabrica (a book known for its pictures) is done. But convert it from TIFF to another format first, preferably PNG, I'd suppose. --24.147.86.187 21:04, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

You might want to consider sending a copy to Project Gutenberg too. SteveBaker 17:57, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

I can convert it to PNG, but I need to find someone to upload it... 68.39.174.238 14:31, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

Blood Brain Barrier

If drugs such as heroine and nicotine can get through the blood brain barrier then what is the deal with genetic engineering and other drug treatment limits in treating things such as alzheimers not being able to get through the blood brain barrier, or am I mistaken?

Heroin and nicotine are very small molecules, with structures that make it easy to cross the barrier. Most drugs are based around proteins or other large molecules, which are too large to easily cross the barrier. Current genetic engineering techniques use viruses, which are even larger than proteins, and are exactly the sort of thing the blood-brain barrier is designed to stop. --Carnildo 20:08, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Well, heroin's not that small, and morphine, which is smaller, has difficulty crossing the barrier. Heroin is morphine with two acetyl groups; acetyl groups somehow make it easier to cross the barrier. However peptides can of course be very much larger molecules, and whether there's any possibility of acetylating them to make them cross the barrier, I wouldn't know -- intuitively it seems sort of unlikely, as the acetyl groups might get in the way of the protein folding and completely change the substance's effect. But maybe it would work on some antibiotics, in cases of brain infection? (This is outside my competence; I'm really just speculating here.) --Trovatore 22:30, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

I read of a group of scientists attempting to coat the designer drugs or genetic engineering or proteins I can't exactly remember now, anyways they coated the cells in a fatty substance to by pass the blood brain barrier, it supposedly has had success, what does anyone else think of this. is that possible in order to treat patients with alzheimers and tumors? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.126.241.147 (talk • contribs)

Kinda peripheral, but I'm sure someone once told me that meningitis IS treatable with antibiotics because the infection compromises the blood-brain barrier, so the drugs can get in when they can't in a healthy person. Aaadddaaammm 03:14, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

I'm also worried about this "genetic engineering" which is being spoken about like a drug. Viral alteration of adult human genes is science fiction. Sure, it's getting there, but it isn't there yet.

Not necessarily, see Human papillomavirus. --antilived^{T | C | G} 05:45, 19 July 2007 (UTC)