Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2009 March 2

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March 2

Phobia term

ive checked through the list of phobias page, and wasnt able to find it. so i ask you: is there a set phobia for a fear of things falling on someone? 71.223.201.126 (talk) 02:49, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

The page, for the interest of others, is -phobia. --Tagishsimon (talk) 03:00, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

The problem is that very few phobias have real names. Almost all of the supposed names - even on our list - are made up crap from various websites. Forget it - there is no name - if you have to have one - make it up yourself, it's about as meaningful. SteveBaker (talk) 03:52, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

Hennypennyosis. B00P (talk) 10:46, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

I've found a few Google hits for Chicken Licken Syndrome. He had a fear of things falling on him. Although most uses seem to be metaphorica. --Maltelauridsbrigge (talk) 17:14, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

Wallpapers

Can anyone recommend a safe website that offers a vast array of high-quality, high-resolution wallpapers? Whip it! ^{Now whip it good!} 05:24, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

I like GNOME backgrounds, myself. --69.146.230.243 (talk) 06:27, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

Ooh, thank you! --Whip it! ^{Now whip it good!} 07:19, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

There are also featured categories over at commons for wallpaper and another for widescreen. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 08:55, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

You can also download beautiful free wallpaper from National Geographic. СПУТНИК^{CCC P} 15:06, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

Any topless native women ? :-) StuRat (talk) 20:06, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

What is not mandatory is forbidden: I took the liberty of removing the pipe ('|') from the NG link. —Tamfang (talk) 02:15, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

workforstudents.org.uk

Hi, does anyone have experience of dealing with workforstudents.org.uk - they claim to pay £25/hour for data entry work, but you have to pay them £25 upfront for training. The only Google result for "workforstudents.org.uk" is a Yahoo Answers question, and searching on just "worksforstudents" brings up results for an unrelated company in the US.

It seems like a scam to me, but just thought I'd ask before walking away from good money. Thanks in advance! — FIRE!^{in a crowded theatre...} 13:37, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

Sounds like a scam to me - you pay them for a "training package", and they make no guarantees as to providing you with work. Their website is a free site on wix.com , and they use a live.com email address for their contact. DuncanHill (talk) 13:44, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

£25/hr for data entry sounds too good to be true, so almost certainly is. --Tango (talk) 13:59, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

Other things that make me suspicious:

• Website made with free edition of Wix;
• Postal address is given as "Head Office Edinburgh" (though Google knows them as 72 Mayfield Gardens, Edinburgh EH9 2AX)
• Google Maps seems to think that "Mayfield Gardens, Edinburgh" only has numbers as high as 40.
• "Regional Manager" is wearing a telephone headset in her picture, and looks suspiciously like a stock photo;
• Can't find anything about this company on the web.

DJ Clayworth (talk) 14:54, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

A couple more:

• "The registrant is a non-trading individual who has opted to have their address omitted from the WHOIS service." AndrewWTaylor (talk) 15:38, 2 March 2009 (UTC)
• "It's totally upto [sic] you how you get paid choose from Paypal, Cheque or even ask to have it put straight into your Bank Account. It's strongly advised that you set up a PayPal account to avoid any fees or oncurring [sic] costs." Use PayPal to avoid fees? Perhaps they mean "paying tax"...

AndrewWTaylor (talk)

A total scam. Tell them you accept their offer and that they can take the £25 out of your first hour's pay. Heck, you can even offer them £50 in the form of your first two hour's pay. See how quickly they turn that offer down. :-) StuRat (talk) 16:03, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

They've thought of that: "the charge is to make sure that only serious applicants apply". But I'm sure we're being much too cynical: there are two positive replies to the question on Yahoo Answers. By an amazing coincidence they're both from people who joined YA the day after the question was posted. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 16:16, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

But if you're willing to pay them twice as much (from your wages), then you must be twice as serious, right ? StuRat (talk) 05:30, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

By an equally amazing coincidence the question on Yahoo joined only the day before asking the question. DJ Clayworth (talk) 16:59, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

So what is the correct procedure for reporting this scam, and Mr James Gilpin, or whoever is behind it? BrainyBabe (talk) 14:58, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

I sent an email to their webhost(Wix). I doubt it will make a difference, but maybe if enough people complain... Or maybe there is a Wikipedian in Edinburgh who might like to go and check out 72 Mayfield Gardens in person. DJ Clayworth (talk) 16:42, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

Seeing that I live, what, maybe 300m away from the alleged address, I've had a look. As suspected Mayfield Gardens only goes up to number 40. No other houses on that road that look likely either.195.128.251.103 (talk) 22:10, 5 March 2009 (UTC)

Ah, the awesome power of Wikipedia. DJ Clayworth (talk) 18:35, 6 March 2009 (UTC)

Note that while certainly a scam, it's probably a legal scam. The only way I can see that they could be in trouble with the law is that they said they would be willing to employ people at a rate which they have no intention of actually paying. But proving intentions is quite difficult, you'd need a recorded conversation or written proof of their intent. Otherwise, they could just claim that the 2nd part of their plan, to pay for data entry, never materialized. StuRat (talk) 20:02, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

musical instrument

What is the name of the musical instrument used in orchestra that sounds rather like a music box and I think the name is something like "chelest"but that is not the correct spelling? I cannot find the answer to my question anywhere so far?Bartlett pair (talk) 16:51, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

Probably a Celesta. DuncanHill (talk) 16:53, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

Italians would no doubt pronounce it "Chelesta", and I've occasionally heard it pronounced that way by English speakers, but its usual pronunciation is "Selesta". -- JackofOz (talk) 20:36, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

And, for what it's worth, the thing is a celeste to me—always has been and always will be. I think I got that from staring at the organ stop names while counting rests in the church choir. With an "s" sound. "Celesta" is the real name, though, according to the OED who tell us to "see celesta" under "celeste". "Celeste" also means "sky blue", by the way. --Milkbreath (talk) 21:08, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

It seems both "celeste" and "celesta" are valid names. I've always assumed the inventor, being French, called the thing simply "celeste", and it only later acquired the -a ending, with or without his imprimatur. But I can't find any evidence of that. Fwiw, My Grove V has a separate entry for "Céleste" (note the acute accent), and refers to "Organ stops"; but its appearance in the Organ Stops article is spelled without the accent. Anyway, they're all lovely names, and if I had 3 daughters, I'd name them Céleste, Cérise and Céline. -- JackofOz (talk) 21:34, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

Vice fund

How has the Vice fund been doing amidst the recent economic chaos? 86.8.176.85 (talk) 17:35, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

See the prices for VICEX. On the whole, not so good. It has been in a tailspin since late 2007. --140.247.253.176 (talk) 19:24, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

Although regular vices like tobacco and alcohol have recession-resistant or even counter-cyclical elements, most funds that rely on vices are heavily weighted towards gambling. Gambling in the US (Las Vegas) relies on travel and discretionary income.NByz (talk) 10:24, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

While I agree it often involves travel, I would like to point out U.S. gambling is just Vegas anymore. You can't hardly throw a stick without hitting a casino. There are 450 commercial casinos in nineteen states as well as 360 Indian gaming establishments run by 220 Indian tribes. In 2004 Nevada only accounted for 1/3 of commercial gambling revenue.[1] Rmhermen (talk) 18:17, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

I see that fund is heavily weighted towards defense. Another story altogether.NByz (talk) 10:26, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

Mixing clothes in the washing machine

It's well known that one should separate coloured and white clothes in the washing machine, in order to prevent the whites from discolouring. But what if you have an item that has equal dark and white stripes? Should that go in the coloured load or the white load? --Richardrj ^{talk email} 17:58, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

Except maybe the first time you wash a new item, I've never found it necessary to separate whites and colours. Just chuck it all in and don't worry about it! New items should be washed with darks. --Tango (talk) 18:01, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

Coloured. You can't stop the coloured stripes from discolouring the white stripes, but at least you can stop them discolouring anything else. DJ Clayworth (talk) 18:02, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

Colourcatcher may be of help also. I'm not sure if it's available outside of Ireland, but it's fantastic. Queenie 19:12, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

What if the stripes were colour-fast but something else in the load wasn't? --Tango (talk) 19:28, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

This probably looks like a plug, but isn't. Honestly, colourcatcher would solve that. It absorbs the colour; e.g. if you had white pants and a red t-shirt you'd put in a colourcatcher sheet, and the red dye would go into the cc sheet rather than the white pants. Queenie 20:02, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

Sure, but putting it in a light load would solve it without costing anything! --Tango (talk) 20:17, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

What temperature the water? I believe hot makes colours run, and cold somehow contains colours. Julia Rossi (talk) 06:11, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

So, why don't we have a page on Color catcher sheets? We have pages on laundry detergent, Laundry bluing and Dryer sheets. Are we just missing a redirect from some obscure generic term or do we need a new page? To stop the color from running, adding some vinegar to the rinse water will sometimes work. Soak the item in warm/hot water in the sink and see what it does there. OR: If you're a guy and the item has red stripes I'd strongly advise against putting it in with the whites. My significant other was rather unhappy about pink underwear caused by color run from a towel with red stripes. 76.97.245.5 (talk) 11:54, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

What's wrong with pink underwear anyway? --Richardrj ^{talk email} 13:11, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

Describe the hudson plains in one sentance.

If you had to describe the hudson plains in one sentance (or one word) what would you write? {Wookiemaster (talk) 19:44, 2 March 2009 (UTC)}

I'd go to the article Hudson Plains and crib the first sentence from the lede. - Eron^Talk 19:50, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

There's also a short short version at Hudson Bay Lowlands to test your editing skills. :) Julia Rossi (talk) 06:14, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

I would go for a sideways approach. What's a creative mis-spelling between friends? (Or freinds, as the young Jane Austen would have it.) Why not pleasantly surprise your teacher with a one-sentance [sic] description of the plane on the Hudson? BrainyBabe (talk) 14:25, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

Or just a plain Hudson. Livewireo (talk) 19:50, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

Or HUDs on planes. Fribbler (talk) 09:49, 4 March 2009 (UTC)

3gp codec for Windows Movie Maker

Moved to Computer refdesk. BrainyBabe (talk) 14:26, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

Philosophical debate

I know it's inappropriate to have philosophical debates here on the RD. What I'd like to know is if there a good website to initiate such debates where really smart people such as Wikipedians hang out? — Michael J 23:58, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

ILovePhilosophy.com and philosophychatforum.com are both intellectually stimulating. Rockpocket 00:44, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

*sigh* Usenet, once upon a time ... —Tamfang (talk) 02:48, 3 March 2009 (UTC)