Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2010 August 4

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August 4

Royal Air Force university bursary

Anyone know how many years of service you're committed to if you accept an RAF student bursary? I can't find it on the RAF site and don't want to blow my chances by calling them to ask. Much competition for these bursaries...! 86.151.94.48 (talk) 02:30, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

This page says it is typically 6 years. --Tango (talk) 03:29, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

UKFOREX, foreign exchange servicies also known as OZFOREX.

Hi there, basically how safe is my money as I want to transfer Sterling into Dollars in my US account? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.212.224.25 (talk) 07:24, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

Where to find a voice of a show character

I am blind, and i cannot read the credits for cyberchase. Where and how can i find the voices of characters on cyberchase, for example, punksy the ground hoggian from the episode 'the bluebird of zappiness' if i am not sure whether it is this t. sturgeon i heard about or not. Help would be greatly appreciated. 204.112.104.172 (talk) 07:38, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

Hi, you might want to take a look at the Wikipedia Entertainment reference desk and ask your question there, as this question appears to be more suited to the users working there instead. Chevymontecarlo 09:37, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

I M D B is generally a good source of such information. For your query, "Punksy" is not listed, but in general you would do as follows. Warning - I don't know how easy I M D B is to use with screen readers. On I M D B s main page, which is www.imdb.com, there is a search box at the top. It has a category drop-down and a search field. Leave the category on "All". In the search box enter "Cyber chase", without the space, and in double quotes. The quotes indicates that you are looking for a TV series, not a film. If there is one exact match you will be taken to the program's summary page, otherwise you will be given a list of the best matches. In the summary page, on the left sidebar, there is a "full cast and crew" link. Follow the link. All the bit-parts, even for one episode, will be listed. However, the results depends on the production studio, or I M D B s users adding the details; not all studios provide full details, and it can take a while for users to add them. You can also search directly for the episode by entering its name on the search box and selecting "TV episodes". This will take you to page about that specific episode. CS Miller (talk) 10:54, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

street name in Mumbai

In the Byculla area of South Mumbai, there is a street called Ramchandra Bhatt Marg. Can a user please tell me: 1) The origin of this street name. 2) In a map of Mumbai this street name is followed by, within brackets, Babula Tank Road. Is this an alternative name or a former name for this street. If it is a former name, when was the name changed to Ramchandra Bhatt Marg? Thank you Simonschaim (talk) 07:59, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

What you call Byculla is actually pronounced Bhaikhala

3 C's of Marketing??

Do understand the three C's of marketing but what is the cruz of having them? anybody.. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 61.95.140.188 (talk) 09:39, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

Could you please explain your question a bit more clearly? ps. please sign your posts, thus:~~~~ --220.101 talk^\Contribs 10:54, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

Corporation, Customers, Competitors. See 3C's Model. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 13:40, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

The 4Ps, 7Ps, 4Cs 7Cs are simply aides memoire to the marketing planner. Wikipedia has articles on marketing and marketing mix, and Googling 4Ps of marketing opens up many sources. So I won't write at length on the subject. Froggie34 (talk) 15:25, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

Hiroshima tsunami?

I am on holiday in Japan, and am currently in Hiroshima, where I spent the day visiting sites connected with the A-bombing in 1945. One thing I couldn't work out from the displays in the (excellent) Peace Museum was what immediate effect the blast had on the Seto Inland Sea and the towns and villages along its shores. After the fireball and shock wave, the fallout and "black rain" seem to have drifted inland on prevailing winds, mainly affecting the city centre and out toward the hills, but did the blast itself displace sufficient water in the bay to cause a tsunami in the shallow waters, affecting communities all along the shoreline? Or would this not have been the case, considering that the bomb detonated in the air rather than on the ground and nothing actually fell into the water to physically displace it, as happened with the Krakatoa explosion and the subsequent tsunamis in the shallow Sunda Strait? I wondered whether the Science desk was a better bet, but thought I'd try here first. Any enlightenment appreciated. Karenjc 10:48, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

The blast should not have displaced much if any water. The blast itself was right in the middle of the city (see the damage map, and keep in mind that most of the damage shown was caused by the firestorm, not the blast or fireball itself), 1,900 ft up in the air. It didn't leave a crater for this reason. I don't see how it would have appreciably affected the tides in any way. Nothing fell into the water other than dust/fallout/etc., and not in large quantities. Atomic explosions can cause rather large local waves when they are detonated inshallow water (see, e.g., Operation Crossroads, Baker shot), but even those dissipate pretty quickly. --Mr.98 (talk) 13:36, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

This link says the Baker shot's waves traveled at 45 knots; the first wave was still 94 feet high after having traveled 1000 yards. Comet Tuttle (talk) 16:46, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

1000 yards in an ocean still seems pretty local to me... Googlemeister (talk) 20:04, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

(ec) Though 1000 yards is still not very far by nuclear standards (it doesn't even get you to the waterline, at Hiroshima). Looking over it again, Baker seems to have produced 15 feet waves at a distance of 3 miles (more specifically, it produced 15 feet waves onto the island of Bikini, which I eyeball as being about 3 miles from the Baker blast). My quick looking at the maps seems to indicate that if Hiroshima was actually made of water, and the bomb had gone off under the surface, it might have produced 15 feet waves or so at the outer islands. I don't know if those count as "tsunami" height waves (that's only a bit higher as normal waves in choppy weather, yes?). I am not an expert on waves. But anyway, Hiroshima was very different conditions. It seems pretty unlikely to me that there were any notable water waves generated by it. --Mr.98 (talk) 20:07, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

A tsunami doesn't have to have any particular height -- the word just means a wave caused by bulk displacement of a large quantity of water. It's perfectly possible to have a 1 inch tsunami. The Hiroshima explosion clearly couldn't have created a meaningful tsunami, since the blast center was well inland. Looie496 (talk) 00:31, 5 August 2010 (UTC)

That's kind of what I figured too. Thanks for all the replies. Karenjc 07:50, 5 August 2010 (UTC)

Savings account losing money?

My boyfriend has a retirement savings plan with SunLife Financial, and we noticed that he has been LOSING money over the past 2 years. His account ought to contain $5000, but instead contains only $3890. Why is this? I looked on the SunLife website and searched wikipedia, but I can`t seem to understand why a savings account would be losing money. Aren`t they meant to gain interest, in order to save more for your retirement? If it helps, I am in Canada.

Thanks very much for your help, finances and interest and whatnot are WAY above my head. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.96.178.33 (talk) 16:20, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

Did you try calling them? -FisherQueen (talk · contribs) 16:33, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

You need to call them. Is it possible that the plan isn't a savings account, as you seem to be assuming, but is a mutual fund that invests in stocks? If so, the value of your boyfriend's account will rise and fall as the prices of the stocks owned by the mutual fund rise and fall. Comet Tuttle (talk) 16:35, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

Like Comet says the name you give (retirement savings plan) sounds like a investment based savings product. the value of investments can go up or down, though the 'theory' behind long term savings (through investment) is that the short term peaks and troughs are 'smoothed' and long-term growth is achieved (please don't take this to read that this is what will occur with any given plan). The nature of the product is what is important so if your boyfriend can find any documentation about the product (he should have received - at least - a policy booklet and a product summary document detailing the risks and workings of the product). If it isn't an investment plan and is just simply savings then he should ask for a statement and see if any unexpected withdrawls have been made from the account (he may have spent money without remembering specifically, he may have had his account compromised by someone etc. etc.). Best bet is to call the company though. ny156uk (talk) 17:56, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

Wikipedia does have an article about Registered Retirement Savings Plans in Canada. They can be used as savings accounts, but they can also hold mutual funds. I'll bet $10 Canadian that the boyfriend misunderstood what he'd bought, and has a mutual fund which has dipped in value because of the recent recession. What he should do about that is between him and... someone besides me, because I'm not feeling qualified to give financial advice to strangers. Especially strangers who live in a different country than I do, where things might not be the same as my things. -FisherQueen (talk · contribs) 18:03, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

Echo all the above. I deal with SunLife/Clarica and have always found their various documents to be confusingly worded. For example, I have an RRSP plan with them and it always refers to me as "The Insured". I've brought it to their attention before ("On my insurance correspondence I should be The Insured; on my investment correspondence, I should be The Client or The Investor or whatever"), but with no luck. That's just an example; there are more. They seem to do their business well enough (I've been with them for years), but reading their correspondence will not necessarily explain things clearly to you. I've always found their agents and phone operators helpful enough though, so, again, calling them directly is honestly your best option. Make sure your boyfriend has his documents in front of him, especially anything that has his account numbers or user IDs. Matt Deres (talk) 02:19, 5 August 2010 (UTC)

Incidentally, Sun Life is not a bank in the sense of providing a normal savings or chequing account; they're a financial institution that provides places for investment as well as various insurance plans. A search for Sun Life savings account brings you only this, which is more like an RRSP or GIC type thing. They are also not listed at our articles on List of banks and credit unions in Canada and Banking in Canada. Matt Deres (talk) 02:29, 5 August 2010 (UTC)

Spanish place names.

I have found on my travels to Spain, Cuba and other Spanish-language speaking destinations that some places such as Havana are preceded by La, as in La Habana, or the Canarian Isand of Gomera as La Gomera. Why is that when city names such as Seville and Toledo and Madrid stand alone, as do island names such as Tenerife, Ibiza, Formentera etc? 92.30.201.68 (talk) 18:47, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

"La" is Spanish for "The", so it would be prefixed to place names that are nouns. "La Habana" means "The Haven" or "The Harbour". Google translate tells me that "Gomera" means "rubber", but that's probably not that origin. Rojomoke (talk) 23:24, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

31 Hours

When a vandal is blocked for the first time, why is it usually for 31 hours, rather than a nice rounded 24, 48, or even 36? 2Ð ℳǣ$₮ℝʘ ^{talk, sign} 18:49, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

Many vandals use the internet at the same time of day- for example, during a study hall at school. The 31-hour block interrupts that rhythm. Not all admins do it, and although block lengths are up to the indidual admin, I usually go for 24 hours for someone who is a reasonable person who made a mistake but is likely to do better next time, and 31 hours for the person who's just adding 'Ms. Krabappel is a dyke' to the article on bacon, and who, given an interruption, might actually forget to come back and cause any more trouble. -FisherQueen (talk · contribs) 18:56, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

That did puzzle me too at first, and I still think it's too long for a vandal on a home ISP connection. Surely they all know how to reset a router, if they are determined to keep vandalising - which means the 31 hour block will catch the next person assigned that IP. 6 hours or so sounds more like it. But then again, I'm hardly an expert even if you count my IP-based lurking before this account :) Cod Lover Oil (talk) 19:13, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

Most school and college IP addresses are fixed. I think 31 hours sounds a good idea. I agree that nothing works for those with changing addresses (mine seems to change at random every few minutes), but most vandals are not determined or knowledgeable enough to deliberately change IP addresses. Those people who get blocked because of the vandalism of others are encouraged to create an account. Dbfirs 22:37, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

Also, vandals are mostly idiots with short attention-spans. Very few are determined enough to persist in the face of blocks or smart enough to know how DHCP works. SteveBaker (talk) 03:05, 5 August 2010 (UTC)

Note that even with ISPs, quite a few nowadays are giving semi-fixed IPs with broadband connections (some will usually re-assign the same IP if you login again with a few hours, for some it's semi-static althougn not sold or guaranteed as such). Also even if it's completely dynamic and the vandal does inadvertedly or purposely go thorough the bother of changing IP, the chance the next person assigned the IP, presuming someone even gets it in the time, actually tries to edit wikipedia in that time is probably fairly slim. One exception may be something like Dbfirs where a large number of users may end up with the IP. This used to be a problem for AOL until they implemented XFF I believe. Nil Einne (talk) 11:46, 5 August 2010 (UTC)

If a username is given a permanent block for being vandalism-only, for how long is the associated IP blocked from account creation? 142.104.54.142 (talk) 01:26, 5 August 2010 (UTC)

What was your registered account name here? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:53, 5 August 2010 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Autoblock only lasts 24 hours although if I understand that page and some discussion correctly, the timer is reset if someone tries to edit from the autoblocked IP within that 24 hours. If a checkuser is involved and they block the IPs manually they could I presume block it for longer. Nil Einne (talk) 11:54, 5 August 2010 (UTC)

Soldiers; Ear Damage from Guns?

Frequently, signs and instructors at gun ranges say that fire arms are louder than jets taking off and can damage the ear, hence necessitating the use of ear protectors. Do soldiers wear ear protectors in combat? If not, wouldn't their ear/hearing be completely ravaged by repeated firing of their gun and the gun of their squad mates? Acceptable (talk) 20:09, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

Here is a thread about this from this last May, from the Science Reference Desk. Ear protection has been standard-issue for US Army soldiers since 2002, but a challenge is getting the soldiers to wear the earplugs. Comet Tuttle (talk) 21:13, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

Wow, that last discussion had some pretty dubious stuff in it.. some random person suspecting that people hurt their ears more with an ipod than with a rifle? Sounds pretty fishy to me. There is the issue of hearing other things you WANT to hear with earplugs in, but I don't see this as a huge issue. If you shoot your rifle a bit without protection, you won't be hearing very well right after that, either. They could of course use active hearing protection which can amplify quiet sounds while damping loud sounds, but I don't know how commonly these are issued. They're definitely more expensive than plain old earplugs. But anyway, yes, regularly shooting a gun without ear protection will certainly cause some hearing loss. I find the sound of a .223 more unpleasant than most larger caliber rifles, especially through a short barrel, but I don't know how much this matters to the actual hearing damage they cause. Friday (talk) 16:00, 5 August 2010 (UTC)

Yes the sound from 5.56 is very echoey and unpleasant, although maybe it is quieter.--92.251.237.196 (talk) 00:36, 9 August 2010 (UTC)

There was a lot of claims by Irish soldiers against the government read the article on it Irish Army deafness claims Mo ainm~Talk 17:00, 5 August 2010 (UTC)

Fairview, Alberta, Canada Hardware store

Hi,

A google and wikipedia searched turned up nothing, so I turn to you: What is the name of the hardware store on Main Street in Fairview, Alberta, Canada (northern - for some reason, there are 2 Fairviews in Alberta coming up).

Thanks so much!

I did a Google Maps search for main street, fairview, alberta, canada and it directed me to only one area, but the name of the town seems to be Whitelaw, so there seems to be a little confusion. Before we get any further, is this the street you're asking about? It's not too far from Fairview, Alberta (just down the No. 2, by the look of it), so I'm assuming Google just gave me the Main Street that's closest to that town. BTW, my search for fairview, alberta, canada only got the one hit, though there doesn't seem to be a "Main Street" in the town. Matt Deres (talk) 21:47, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

Hmm. A search for whitelaw, alberta hardware didn't return any local businesses on "Main Street". There are plenty in Fairview, though; perhaps browsing the list here will help. There's no Main Street in Fairview, though, so something's not adding up. Matt Deres (talk) 21:52, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

According to Google maps, there is True Value Hardware, 110 Street, Fairview, AB T0H 1L0, (780) 835-5926, which is right in the centre of Fairview, Alberta (town) the northern-most Fairview. The other Fairview appears to not have a hardware store, but it is very close (maybe even a suburb) to Lethbridge which appears to have plenty of hardware stores. Astronaut (talk) 13:17, 5 August 2010 (UTC)