Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2010 March 17

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March 17

A Question about Wikipedia's searches

WP:TITLE#COMMONNAME says that we should use names and terms that readers are most likely to look for in order to find an article. Is it possible to access Wikipedia server logs to determine what search terms our readers are using to access an article? A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 02:29, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

This question should probably be asked at The technical desk of the Village Pump which is more suited towards questions of a technical nature related to Wikipedia. The ref desks are more for getting answers to questions one might find in the content of Wikipedia articles. --Jayron32 02:38, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

I don't know about searches, but you can see page view statistics for each redirect from the history tab. Warofdreams talk 21:36, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

Bugs

There are these small bugs on my computer screen. No matter how many I squish they keep coming back. They're very small white colored. They always crawl on the screen, no where else. What are they called? Money is tight (talk) 02:53, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

"Sockpuppets". :) Unless they're in front of the screen. I've had gnats alight on my screen occasionally. This might be a stretch, but is it possible you could photograph one of them, or a cluster of them, and upload it? Unless an entomologist turns up here first. :) ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 02:57, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

Where in the world are you? Is it summer where you are? Dismas|^(talk) 03:43, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

Is it summer anywhere? --Polysylabic Pseudonym (talk) 06:14, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

Good point. We're a few days from the equinox. Do some insects "swarm" around the time of the equinoxes? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 06:38, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

Summer officially ended in Australia on 28 February, but right now it's hot, humid and very uncomfortable where I live. There are plenty of flies and bugs. In real terms, it's still summer here. -- Jack of Oz ... speak! ... 07:08, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

Do you have plants in the room? They might be infested with some kind of whitefly, in which case give them a spraying.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 08:31, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

I get small black gnats on my computer screen in warm weather. They are small enough that they seem to get through the window screens. For some reason, they seem to be attracted to the computer screen. At night it may be because it's the brightest object in the room, but they also seem to be attracted during the day. Perhaps the static charge (it's a CRT) sucks them in as they fly past ? I just squash them with a finger when they land, and then have to use window cleaner and a paper towel on the screen at least once a day. I've found that either glue boards or plates filled with dish-washing detergent will tend to reduce their numbers, but not all the way to zero. StuRat (talk) 14:55, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

I live in Australia. It's not cold or hot right now. I have no plant or organic stuff in my room. They usually crawl on the front screen when my monitor is off. They aren't really a problem I'm just wondering what they are because they crawl on my other PC as well. And they can't fly or jump. Money is tight (talk) 02:59, 18 March 2010 (UTC)

Family tree software

Can anyone recommend a decent software package that allows me to log my family tree. There are so many on the market (and free ones to download), but I want a decent one that allows me to have pictures attached to the people and has a nice user-friendly interface. I am hoping that someone here has some experience with them and can recommend a good quality package that is worth all the effort of inputting all the data, etc. Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.111.107.244 (talk) 15:06, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

Family Tree Maker is probably the leading title but most boughten programs allow export in the GEDCOM format which allows you to move files between different programs. Free programs may not have any export capabilities. Rmhermen (talk) 18:31, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

Agreed. Whatever software you use, make sure they allow creation of GEDCOM format files. I have Family Tree Maker, and am happy with it. Woogee (talk) 21:46, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

Brazil_entertainment pricing

My question concerns pricing for various forms of entertainment in Brazil. For instance; a soccer game, a baseball game or a concert. This could be either in Brazilian currency or dollars. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Elpebbo (talk • contribs) 18:41, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

So, do you want to know the economic factors that influence the determination of such prices, or just how much those things will cost to a purchaser? If the latter, the question is too general to be easily answerable, as it would depend hugely on specific locations and on the 'quality level' of the specific event, just as elsewhere.

(For example, a ticket for a soccer game between top-level teams in São Paulo will likely cost a lot more than one in a lower league in a small town elsewhere; a concert by The Eagles in a major venue in central Brasilia will be much more expensive than one by a local band in a small club in the suburbs. Such things are universals.)

It's possible that a responder here may come along with specific knowledge of these sort regarding Brazil, but since only you know what you have in mind, you would probably get better answers faster by googling for Tourist or Entertainment Information websites in the Brazilian location(s) you are interested in. 87.81.230.195 (talk) 00:57, 18 March 2010 (UTC)

Football prices: For games at top São Paulo club, Corinthians, ticket prices seem to be from R$ 30 (~US$ 17) for seats behind the goal to R$ 100 for the better seats (and R$ 180 for a VIP seat). For example, see this page (click "Setores e Preços", prices are in Reals).

Cinema prices: A major multiplex in downtown São Paulo shows movies for R$ 7 - R$ 16 depending what day you go and whether or not the screen has Dolby Digital sound and 3D. See this page.

Concert prices: The British band, Franz Ferdinand, are playing in São Paulo next week. According to this site, tickets are R$ 180 or R$ 240 (which seems incredibly expensive to me - I wouldn't expect to pay that much to see them here in the UK).

... not as hard as I imagined finding out this kind of info, despite knowing no Portuguese :-) Astronaut (talk) 08:14, 18 March 2010 (UTC)

Night sky photo

Hey how this photo [1] taken, potentially? I know it's a panorama, but how do you get such detail in the stars. Sure, the exceptionally dark sky is an advantage, but still... Aaadddaaammm (talk) 20:33, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

If you check the original source at APOD, you'll see that it's a composite of 30 images. At a guess, those 30 include both fixed shots (to get the ground) and rotating shots (to get stellar detail). Otherwise, it's just a very very sensitive camera with a very very good lens. — Lomn 20:43, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

Rotating shots - like rotating at the same speed as the earth to prevent the stars making lines, with the necessary long shutter speeds? Aaadddaaammm (talk) 21:06, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

See the articles Telescope mount and Equatorial mount. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 21:32, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

Based on the star density and my experience with night photography, I'd say that's about a 30-second exposure. At those shutter speeds, a wide-angle lens (the sort you'd need for a 360-degree panorama in only 30 images) won't show star trails. --Carnildo (talk) 23:54, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

It's worth reading High dynamic range imaging which is the technique that allows the wide range of brightnesses to be spanned in a single final image and which would allow the exposure times needed for the stars to be balanced against the exposures used for the ground. It's also worth noting that they obviously picked a moonless night. SteveBaker (talk) 02:54, 18 March 2010 (UTC)

Remarkable oil spill defenses

Dear Wikipedians, I am hoping for some help. :) I am looking for a part of the world, a city or a stretch of coast, that has remarkably good measures against any oil tanker cracking open. I am not sure how to go about my search beyond what I've already found out about some areas (the Texan coast being among the places I've tried to study), so I am hoping for some help if anyone here knows anything. Help would be endlessly appreciated. =) 77.18.12.92 (talk) 22:19, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

Prevention against oil tanker collision/leak or defense against from oil spills damage? --Kvasir (talk) 22:49, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

Prince William Sound[2].—eric 23:20, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

I believe some harbors have the ability to completely close themselves off from the ocean. This is meant to be used for flood control, but also has the potential to totally stop an oil spill from infiltrating. StuRat (talk) 23:37, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

@Kvasir: Both, as a matter of fact. What EricR linked gave a very good example (thank you, EricR!), where there are demands for preemptive measures along with the strictly defensive methods of protection. I quote from Prevention and response plan:

... The prevention portion of this plan requires that each laden tanker transiting Prince William Sound must be escorted by two vessels, one of which must be a specially equipped prevention and response vessel or tug...

I am very glad that this benchmark was provided. Even if these numbers are somewhat bloated (as one can imagine), they provide a very good example. 77.18.67.54 (talk) 09:18, 18 March 2010 (UTC)