Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2009 March 28

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March 28

IIT

Moved to Computing

Questions about a hypothetical new recipie book

The idea is that the book will contain low cost recipies mostly useing a small range of simple ingredients, to be targeted mostly at people in socioeconomic groups D and E, but I am still having a bit of trouble finding out much of the information needed to work out details of the organisation. Therefore I have created a short list of questions that still need to be answered, and am hoping some people might be nice enough to provide answers to as many of them as possible.

1 How much would it cost to have thousands of copies of a quite small book printed?

2 How many copies might it sell, how many do other similar books sell?

3 Where can I find out how many people visit various shops, both locally and nationaly, and if possible get some idea how many of them are within the target market?

4 How much of the profits would the shops take for themselves?

5 How are sales of the book likely to vary through the year?

6 What else do I need to know, that I have forgotten to ask?

7 148.197.114.165 (talk) 16:32, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

Well do you want to self-publish your book? Pretty much all books you see in bookstores are published through professional publishers, and to get one of those you're probably going to need an agent. Typically you don't pay the agent if they select your book, they take a 15% commission instead. After the publisher takes there cut, author royalties are typically 15% to 20% of sales. This site seems to give a pretty good overview of what most people face. TastyCakes (talk) 17:49, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

I would locate a publisher just starting out, who is trying to build a catalogue. There are several new ones, who offer no advances, but pay royalties once all the expenses are met. --80.176.225.249 (talk) 19:55, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

Actually someone else is dealing with all the printing and stuff, they've just sent me to do a bit of research on sales and such like. i think it's being arranged to pay a company to print the books, and I just wanted to check to make sure we've got the best price. I was told Amazon.co.uk had statistics on book sales, and mysupermarket.co.uk statistics on the popularity of supermarkets, but I haven't been able to find anything like that there. Are there any other sites that do provide such information? 148.197.114.165 (talk) 11:51, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

How much sales will vary during the year is largely dependent on what type of recipes your book contains, and, in particular, which recipe is shown on the cover. If you have a Christmas-themed meal on the cover, you might expect 90% of your yearly sales in the 2 months before Christmas (and some stores may refuse to carry it at other times of the year). If you have something far more general, like a tuna casserole, on the cover, then sales could be expected to be more even. StuRat (talk) 15:37, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

Talk to someone at the Small Business Administration. They will have answers to all your questions. They also have a wonderful series of inexpensive books on starting a small business. Phil_burnstein (talk) 06:48, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

• If you were to selfpublish with the right kind of service, printing the books wouldn't cost anything since most self-publishers use Print-On-Demand Publishing (basically, only print when someone buys, the costs are for the client, you get the profit). Problem is that self-published books are hard to get in stores. The average self-published book sells less than 100 copies -- even less if you don't promote it. You should definitely try a publisher first and remember: "Money flows towards the author". If a publisher wants to make you pay a fee of any kind be careful and get some opinions from other writers. - Mgm|^(talk) 11:49, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

Four Merger Scenarios

What would the resulting market cap, revenues, and global reach & size of these four merger scenarios:

• Google and Yahoo:

    Google-------Yahoo
             |
             |
         Yahoogle

• Microsoft and Apple

    Microsoft-------Apple
                |
                |
         Microsoft Apple

• GE and IBM:

    GE-------IBM
         |
         |
  GE International

• Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Apple, GE, and IBM:

    Google     Yahoo    Microsoft    Apple    General Electric    IBM
      |          |          |          |             |             |
      |          |          |          |             |             |
      +----------+----------+----------+-------------+-------------+
                                  |
                       American Super Corporation

--Melab±1 ☎ 18:57, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

Well, obviously, the "American Super Corperation" would be rich enough to buy the universe —Preceding unsigned comment added by Chaosandwalls (talk • contribs) 20:16, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

You forgot Google + Amazon --> Googlezon (see also EPIC 2014) ~EdGl ★ 20:28, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

United States antitrust law. Rmhermen (talk) 21:27, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

Microsoft could take over Apple any time it wanted to - but it can't afford the risk of being labelled an illegal monopoly. So I don't think that can happen. SteveBaker (talk) 21:36, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

I guess such a merger would have to be approved by the United States Department of Commerce, right? I think if Microsoft could make moves for taking over Yahoo, they could do similarly to Apple, especially since Apple focuses on hardware rather than software (as Microsoft and Yahoo do) reducing monopoly concerns. If Apple were to be bought by Sony, that would be another matter. However, I think Microsoft is probably more likely to avoid buying Apple because it views Apple's stocks as overvalued. It could stretch its money further on other companies, especially in the current buyer's market. Besides, it would almost certainly have to acquire it through a hostile takeover, which may or may not be possible depending on how much stock is owned by people's vigorously opposed to such a deal. TastyCakes (talk) 21:57, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

I'm not asking about anything related to antitrust. And I'm talking about mergers not if they could buy out the other. And I'm looking for how all the companies could work together, like I read on one blog that

“ Were they to merge, it's not just that the corporate cultures would be hard to blend. It's more like there's nothing there to mesh. Microsoft could never make an iPod; Apple could never make products based entirely around the model of working with other products made by third parties. ”

Also, I'm asking what each of the scenarios' resulting global reach, market cap, and revenue would be (answers like "The Apple-Microsoft scenario would result in market cap bigger than ExxonMobil." or "The Apple-Microsoft scenario would have a market cap of over a trillion dollars.", responses regarding outcomes like those.) --Melab±1 ☎ 22:21, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

Well you can go to the pages of the companies and add up their market caps for an approximate answer. Since Apple is given as $80B and Microsoft is given as $170B, a merged company would be about $250B, well below ExxonMobil's $390B. TastyCakes (talk) 23:07, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

Yeah if you're really looking for a numerical answer, you can do it as quickly. Revenues you can simply combine in the short term. Over the long, groups that compete will be merged, typically resulting in lower revenues but higher profits.

As for market cap, you can't simply combine them. The market will have to estimate the potential profitability of the combined entity, then risk-weight and discount them to present value, taking into account the other components of capital structure (namely: debt). That will yield the new market cap. If, for example, the combined entity will produce similar revenues, but with a wider profit margin (due to decreased competitiveness) market cap will be higher than the sum of the two.

As for 'size', that is typically measured as either market cap, revenue, employees or assets. The latter three can be simply summed in the short term, but employees and assets will likely fall significantly post-merger.

And for global reach... it's difficult to choose a metric that captures that idea.

And lastly, in regards to the meshing of corporate culture or core competencies, 'never' is a long time.NByz (talk) 04:14, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

Let's talk a bit about when mergers make sense and when they don't. A good merger should help both companies. For example, one automotive company with a good line of trucks, but few cars, and one with cars, but no trucks. It wouldn't make as much sense for two companies which both make trucks to merge, due to self competition, but might if, for example, one has good products, but is low on cash, while another has poor products, but deep pockets. It also wouldn't make much sense for a company that makes cars to merge with one that makes crackers, as there's very little in common between them. Unfortunately we have often seen, in the past, mergers between companies which have nothing to gain from it; say companies which make entirely different products, so they can't be merged effectively. They usually end up being split up in just a few years, frequently at a loss. The Google merger with YouTube made sense, as Google needed to add on-line video to their product line. A Google merger with Yahoo seems less beneficial (too much overlap), as does a GE and IBM merger (too little overlap). The Microsoft/Apple merger sounds like a disaster, as many of the Apple customers absolutely hate Microsoft and would likely defect to Linux or anything else non-MS after a merger. StuRat (talk) 14:17, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

Let's make lots of money

A recent trip to Tallinn, Estonia made me wonder whether it's possible to make a profit solely by exchanging currency back and forth. So far, I have thought of exchanging one currency to another. For the sake of simplicity, I assume here only Finland and the Euro and Estonia and the Estonian kroon. The buying rate of a foreign currency at a specific place is always higher than the selling rate at the same place, otherwise I could make a profit simply by standing at the same spot and exchanging money back and forth. There are then three possible permutations of the rates:

1.

1. Buy EUR (Estonia)
2. Sell EUR (Estonia)
3. Buy EEK (Finland)
4. Sell EEK (Finland)

2.

1. Buy EUR (Estonia)
2. Buy EEK (Finland)
3. Sell EUR (Estonia)
4. Sell EEK (Finland)

3.

1. Buy EUR (Estonia)
2. Buy EEK (Finland)
3. Sell EEK (Finland)
4. Sell EUR (Estonia)

(Without loss of generality, I assume Finland (EUR) and Estonia (EEK) are interchangeable.)

Given the first set of rates, I could make a profit simply by keeping travelling to Estonia and exchanging money at different terminals. But with the other two, I don't think making a profit is possible, only that I can make less of a loss by exchanging money at different terminals.

So I have two questions:

1. Is my math correct?
2. Is there any place in the world where the first set of rates (where is it possible to make a profit) would actually happen?

JIP | Talk 20:45, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

What you describe is called Arbitrage; where there is free flow of money then that generally equalises things so that the profits to be made from the differential are less than the transaction costs. Where there isn't free flow of money (which these days only applies to those few currencies that aren't freely exchangeable, such as those of North Korea or Zimbabwe) then there is money to be made exploiting the differential between the official rate and the street rate (but that's black marketeering, and those are the same kinds of countries that are particularly harsh on black marketeers). There is money to be made in temporal arbitrage, exploiting temporary changes in the relative rates of currency exchange (generally using real-time market data feeds and high-speed, often semi-automated, trading systems). 87.114.147.43 (talk) 21:07, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

See Foreign exchange market and Forex scam. -Arch dude (talk) 21:56, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

I should clarify that when I say "there is money to be made in temporal currency arbitrage" this really means "money to be made by specialist traders and merchant banks' currency trading operations" (and not, as Arch dude's links show, by you and I) and this is a risky business indeed (one might just plain call it gambling). 87.114.147.43 (talk) 00:10, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

I'm not sure I fully understand the list because I don't see any rates or calculations. I can tell you that, in high-volume locations (places with an internet connection to the forex market), currencies are always traded in pairs. (see [1] for common ones). Sometimes currency traders perform "Triangular arbitrage" if, for example, the ratio of (A/B * B/C) is not equal to (A/C). Most arbitrage of this type, however, is done by ultra-fast bank computer programs, so individual traders are unable to take advantage of it.

If you're talking about actually exchanging physical currency on the street, it's possible. Moneychangers will chart a "spread" (essentially a variable fee) over the "ultra-fast forex market" rate when you exchange money. If you're in a small, tourist town, and a money-changing shop is set up right in the middle of the tourist district, it's likely charging a large spread. If you show up with a bunch of money and charge a smaller spread, you can pocket that amount.

The problem with the scheme, is it necessarily makes you a currency speculator; you're now exposed to changes in the value of the money that you hold. Unless you know about where currency markets are going, this simply exposes you to variability without any expected return. NByz (talk) 00:26, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

Wow, I ended up saying pretty much what 87. did. NByz (talk) 00:27, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

Yes, but you used more impressive sounding words :)

The key part is that "unless you know about where currency markets are going", which is another way of saying "unless you're moving such vast sums around that you can change where the currency markets are going" (and if that's true, and you're asking financial questions on Wikipedia, that would explain a lot about the world economy). 87.114.147.43 (talk) 01:20, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

Staying legal, I think it would be very difficult for normal people like you or I to make a profit from foreign exchange in the short term. The biggest obstacle for the normal person is that banks like to give different rates for buying or selling, and also like to charge commission on top. With a longer term view however, it might be possible to make a profit. For example: Suppose the Euro is going down relative to the Kroon, you could buy Kroons and wait for the exchange rate to get a lot worse, then change it all back and get more Euros than you started with despite the bank's charges. Of course there is the risk the exchange rate won't cooperate and you will end up making a loss.

If you prepared to do something illegal, you could find somewhere with a currency exchange blackmarket and lax currency regulations. The profits could be large, but there is a significant risk of getting into serious legal trouble. Unfortunately, such countries usually have strict currency regulations limiting how much you can change back at the bank, how much currency you can carry, and sometimes rules insisting that you spend a minimum amount per day in the local economy.

Astronaut (talk) 03:19, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

Not to mention as with most countries, probably laws preventing you from working without a work permit, residency or citizenship. Plus there will also be the existing black marketeers who won't be too happy with you barging in to their territory and who's 'punishment' would like be worse then the authorities. Also whether legal or illegal you'd likely need a resonably high start up capital to actually make much of a profit anyway Nil Einne (talk) 21:47, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

I was thinking more of taking advantage of the "services" offered by blackmarket money changers - ie. Exchanging your Euros for their bundles of local currency, then changing it all back into Euros at a bank at the official rate. There's a risk of arrest by the (secret) police, but little risk of "punishment" from gangsters unless you grass on them. Astronaut (talk) 11:32, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

Instrumental Music

Does anyone know the name/artist of the instrumental music as the very start of the F1 qualifying show here? http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00j6b9y/Formula_1_2009_The_Australian_Grand_Prix_Qualifying/

Thanks in advance. 86.129.223.0 (talk) 21:37, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

You mean the violins right from the start (I've no idea to be honest), or the theme the BBC has used for it's F1 coverage since ... forever, which comes into play from around 1min 5secs? Astronaut (talk) 02:36, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

Yes, i meant that violins right at the start. I've heard before on Top Gear and really liked it and wondered if i could listen to it in full? 86.166.72.217 (talk) 11:53, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

The Top Gear theme music is Jessica (The Allman Brothers Band song). The Formula 1 theme is called 'Motor Sport' it's a special 'arrangement' of the bass line from Fleetwood Mac's 'The Chain' from the album 'Rumours'. There is an MP3 of it here. SteveBaker (talk) 15:06, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

Mmm. I meant the violin instrumental music at the very start, not the theme tune to F1 on the BBC, not the theme tune to Top Gear. 86.166.72.217 (talk) 17:39, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

Maybe try here (http://forums.finalgear.com/top-gear-episode-songs/) - it's pretty comprehensive, if you can remember the Top Gear episode/what happened in that episode it'd be much easier to find, but if it was on 'new' Top Gear that site will surely list it. ny156uk (talk) 21:16, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the link, that's a pretty comprehensive list of songs for top gear programs! After some research, i found that it was Opening by Craig Armstrong. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.129.230.59 (talk) 00:50, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

As a follow up question, does anyone know where i can get hold of this? (Craig Armstrong - Opening) 86.129.230.59 (talk) 01:06, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

Amazon.com have it as an MP3 download for $0.45 here. SteveBaker (talk) 14:15, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

Surgeons and broken hands

Suppose if a surgeon broke his/her hand in a skiing accident, will all of the appointments of that surgeon be postponed until the surgeon's hand heals? If so, does that mean that surgeons need to take take of their hands and arms better than perhaps their clinical counterparts, such as medical dermatologists?

Consequently, does this mean that surgeons need to employ lifestyle adaptations in order to take care of their arms and hands? Acceptable (talk) 23:47, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

Surgeons very often practise as part of a larger group, so their colleages would take up the slack. If that generates a backlog then they might defer non-urgent stuff and offload other stuff to other medical groups. Patients would only wait to be treated by that surgeon if they chose (which would only be the case for elective stuff like boob jobs) or in the incredibly rare case that a given surgeon is the only one who can (or will) perform a given procedure. Anyway, surgeons in a given area (and for specialists, in a given field) all know one another (they go to the same conferences and play golf together) so they'd have no difficulty finding someone to do their work while they're unable. I know several surgeons, and none takes especially good care of their hands. 87.114.147.43 (talk) 00:19, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

I would suggest that manual dexterity is not the most important attribute of a surgeon. His medical judgement and eyesight are of more importance in my opinion. Richard Avery (talk) 08:31, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

Also note that the vast majority of jobs would be negatively affected by a broken hand. StuRat (talk) 13:45, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

Also note that most people don't break their hands. We are talking about a reasonably low probability event, and one that everyone would like to avoid. I don't expect that surgeons are more worried about it than you or I. Plasticup ^T/C 17:14, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

There is a web site (Lloyd´s, who should know) which claims that Keith Richards and Richard Claydermann have insured their hands, so it must be possible to cover some of the risks. Somewhat more obscurely, Sir Tom Jones seems to have his chest hair insured for USD 7 mio. Presumably you can insure anything, if the actuarian analysts of the insurance can come up with an affordable premium.

A bit off tangent, there is the condition focal hand dystonia (the etiology seem poorly understood), which has plagued a number of musicians. Our article focal dystonia does mention (without a reference) that surgeons are amongst the risk group. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 19:49, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

The only reasonable response by a surgeon who injures his hands would be to go to the Himalayas and seek the Ancient One. It only makes sense. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 10:21, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

The OP's question is a reasonable one. Yes, I have known surgeons who take better than average care of their hands. One I know was fond of contact sports, but at a certain point in his medical training or junior career, decided to stop for that reason, to protect his hands or arms from injury. BrainyBabe (talk) 09:24, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

Cosmetic Dermatologist Salary

On average in the United States, how much more does a cosmetic dermatologist make in comparison to a non-cosmetic dermatologist? Acceptable (talk) 23:48, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

Your regular (non-cosmetic) dermatologist makes about $230,000, but that varies considerably depending on where you are in the United States. Cosmetic dermatologists have an even wider range of salaries. Some make much less because they are little more than glorified nurses with a $10,000 laser machines whereas highly specialized plastic surgeons in L.A. are going to make much much more. Cosmetic dermatology is neither well defined nor well regulated. Plasticup ^T/C 17:09, 29 March 2009 (UTC)